Darkest Before the Dawn
by MamaKnowsBest
Summary: Almost twenty years after Kagome returns to the Fuedal Era, her daughter can't help but think that her life is a little...boring. But when a strange yokai delivers a strange curse, her life becomes very interesting, very quickly *rated "T" for language* HIATUS. POSSIBLY DISCONTINUED
1. Bored

**H****ey. This is my first fic so I guess here it goes. Please read and review. Thanks :)**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do not, have not, and will never own either the anime or manga series Inuyasha. Very few of these characters are original, and I obviously do not own those that aren't. I do not want to waste space, so be aware I will not repeat this in any other chapter._**

**Breakers:**

**XxX-change of POV**

**... =time/scene change**

**Alright then. Enjoy.**

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><p><em><strong>Bored<strong>_

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><p>"Akira! Come on, Uncle Miroku is waiting for us!"<p>

"I'm coming, calm down," a teenage girl grumbled, brow furrowed in annoyance. She tugged the hem of her kimono to make it lie flat and quickly ran her fingers through her jet black hair. Akira sighed again as she caught a glimpse of herself in her mother's hand mirror, which lay abandoned on the floor of her family's hut after the morning's rush to get ready; she had accepted long ago that she would never be as beautiful as her powerful _miko_ mother. But there was nothing much she could do about her unusual features. Golden eyes glinted back at her from the piece of glass as if to say, "Oh well, there is no use wasting time on it, especially not with your impatient little brother dancing in the doorway."

"Come _on_," Toshi whined again, darting in and grabbing her arm. His big violet eyes glared up at her from his thin face. "We're going to be late for our lesson again." Akira wanted to be annoyed with him, but when she saw the adorable tuft of silver hair on the back of his head that refused to stay down she just couldn't manage it. She allowed herself to be tugged out into the daylight.

"_Your_ lesson," she corrected, absently fixing the twelve-year-old's clothes, "I'm just going because Cho asked me to. Or was it Gina?"

Toshi rolled his eyes and twitched away from her hands. "Whatever. Uncle said he had a surprise for us, and Mom and Dad are already there, let's hurry!" He broke into a run and, sighing, she followed him down the path that led to their uncle's home. Technically, Miroku wasn't really their uncle, but he and his wife were such good friends with Toshi and Akira's parents that they had grown up addressing him as such.

As they darted through the village, people raised their hands or smiled in greeting. Akira waved and smiled back, calling them by name and asking after their families as she jogged by. She supposed that was the nice thing about living here; she was always close to someone she knew. It did make life rather boring though, predictable.

"Cho, Gina!" She was snapped from her musings by her brother's shout as he caught sight of their "cousins". The twin girls were leaning on either side of the doorway to their family's hut in identical poses of nonchalance. Deep brown hair cut in identical, shoulder-length styles framed their faces. They smiled when they saw the other two coming and held out their hands when Toshi bounced up to them.

"Is there really a surprise?" the young boy asked excitedly, shifting from foot to foot, "Uncle said there would be. Do you know what it is?"

Two identical pairs of brown eyes twinkled with amusement and Gina answered, "Yes. Do you want to come in and see?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Toshi shouted, practically vibrating with excitement. Even Akira, though she considered her mature age of fifteen to be too old for such nonsense, began to buzz with anticipation. She met Cho's eyes over Toshi's head and the older girl winked, then beckoned them into the hut.

The moment his feet crossed the threshold, Toshi shouted, "Ryoku!" and tackled the silver-haired young man sitting on the floor between a stunning _miko_ and her _hanyou_ husband.

"Hey there," Akira and Toshi's older brother laughed, hugging the younger boy for a moment before grabbing him in a headlock. "You miss me?"

"Of course we did!" Akira answered for him, throwing herself into the group hug. The three siblings fell over in a tangle of arms and legs, laughing hysterically.

"I was gone for three months too," a miffed voice came from the other side of the room. Still laughing, Akira jumped up and hugged her cousin Hikaru, who looked so like his father sitting next to him she almost had to pause to be sure she was greeting the right one.

"Surprise," her uncle Miroku said, blue eyes twinkling. Her aunt Sango moved over to make room for the twins and after more hugs and exclamations, Toshi and Akira settled down on either side of their brother.

Glancing over, Akira suddenly marveled to herself how like their father the boys looked, with their strong builds and silvery hair. She was the only one who possessed golden eyes however; Ryoku's were the same clear blue as their mother's, while she had inherited Kagome's black hair. But there was that one trait which all three siblings got from Inuyasha, along with their status as half-demons- furry, pointy, dog ears.

"Where's Uncle Kohaku?" Once again Toshi's voice brought Akira's wondering mind back to the present.

"He and Kirara will be here tomorrow," Hikaru told him. "He said he had an errand to run."

"An errand he needs Kirara for?" Kagome raised an eyebrow. Sango made a face like she had been thinking the same thing. Akira was curious too; not many errands required a fiery cat-demon.

Hikaru shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you all about it tomorrow. Now, who wants to hear about _our_ adventures?"

Everyone laughed and Ryoku and Hikaru launched into an incredibly detailed description of the last three month of their lives as Demon Slayers. Akira watched the way her brother's eyes lit up when he described his battles, and he and their father jokingly boasted against each other, comparing victories. Sango would occasionally jump in with questions, cool and logical, while the twins listened with rapt attention to every word. Hikaru, meanwhile, had gotten into a debate with his father about the quickest way to exorcise a minor demon from a house and Toshi was leaning closer and closer to them, eyes wide as he took in everything they said.

Next to her, Akira heard her mother sigh contentedly and lean back against the wall. "It's so nice to have everyone together," Kagome said, a little wistfully, putting her arm around Akira's shoulders. "It feels like it happens so rarely now."

Akira nodded. It was true; ever since he'd turned sixteen a little over a year ago, Ryoku had been off with Hikaru and Kohaku every chance they got, fighting demons and exploring new places. Looking around the hut, Akira felt a sudden wave of envy swamp her heart: Toshi was already on his way to becoming a powerful _kannushi_, one who would travel everywhere to do his work. Ryoku sat boasting about the battles he'd won and describing the exotic demons he and Hikaru had met. The twins were chatting about the best demon-slaying techniques and challenging Ryoku and Hikaru to sparring matches; even though they were twenty now, and had families and homes, they still had seen things she hadn't. And never would.

Akira was not strong like her father and Ryoku, nor did she have their gift with swords, or her mother's talent with a bow. She also didn't possess her mother and Toshi's spiritual power or knack for healing. All she had was a strong nose and dog ears. And…no, she wouldn't think about that.

Suddenly, all joy at Ryoku's return paled in comparison to the girl's sense of uselessness and self-loathing. Quietly, she said to her mother, "I'm going for a walk," and stood.

Immediately Kagome sensed something was wrong. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern.

Akira forced a smile. "I'm fine. I just need some air." Facing her older brother she said, "Finish telling me the story later, okay?" Then she leaned down and hugged him again. "I really missed you," she whispered, blinking back sudden tears that were a combination of the wretched emotions swirling in her chest.

Ryoku hugged her back a little awkwardly. Emotion displays were normally something Akira scoffed at, not gave. Everyone was a little surprised. But she broke away quickly and said over her shoulder as she left, "You'll have to take Cho up on that sparring offer; I'd pay to see that," which was much more like herself.

As soon as she was out of the village, away from watching eyes and cheerful greetings, Akira let the tears fall. She cried as she broke into a run, zipping over the ground to the forest that had always been her sanctuary, the place she could always escape from the rest of the world. The_ Mori no Inuyasha._

_..._

The trees of the _Mori no Inuyasha _were tall and thick, and soon Akira had disappeared into their comforting, green shade. "Pull yourself together," she muttered to herself as she angrily dashed the last traces of tears from her cheeks. "Remember what Dad taught you." Tears were weakness, and a _hanyou_ could never afford to show weakness; that lesson was one Akira and her brothers had learned early in life. Not all humans were as excepting as the people of their village. Because they couldn't show weakness, they had learned to develop their strengths- Ryoku his fighting power and Toshi his spiritual abilities. The younger boy also wasn't bad with a bow.

But developing her strengths was exactly Akira's problem; she didn't have any. Sure, she had stronger senses than a human, but all _hanyous_ were like that. Her only real "strength" was her speed, which she used as she leaped up into the forest's canopy and darted from branch to branch. She felt a tiny glow of pride in her chest as she reached her destination in just over half the time it would have taken even her father. Jumping to the ground again, she landed in a crouch at the base of the tree and stared into the tiny clearing.

The dry well, or the Bone-Eating Well as she'd heard the villagers call it, had always been a special place to her. When she was very young, her parents' stories about how her mother had grown up in a distant land that you could only reach by traveling magically through the well had scared her. She used to be afraid that if she got too close she'd be sucked in and transported to a strange country. However, as she got older, her fear lessened, and her curiosity grew. It had become a habit for her to visit the well and to gaze into it, wondering, whenever she had a lot on her mind.

Slowly, sniffing the air delicately for any foreign scents, she crept to the well and peered down into the darkness. _"I wonder if the path to Mom's homeland is still open," _she thought to herself for perhaps the millionth time. And for the millionth time, the idea that she could jump in, be taken away to someplace new and interesting, where she wasn't expected to do great things, crept into the back of her mind. But, as always, she was too cowardly to try_._ So instead, she sat on the edge of the well and gazed up at the sky. It was clear and perfect, and the sun shone cheerily down on her, warming her face. She sighed contentedly, her bad mood dissipating like mist under the rays of the noon-day sun.

_"I should go back,"_ she thought eventually. A pang of guilty shame hit her in the stomach as she remembered her behavior from earlier. _"I should go back and apologize to Brother,_" she thought, pushing herself off the well to the ground. She turned in the direction that would take her back to the village- and froze.

Standing at the edge of the clearing was a tall, beautiful woman. She was pale as moonlight, with eyes like embers, red and smoldering. Her hair was red too, the cherry red of a hearth fire, which Akira had never seen before. She was dressed in a simple white kimono with a pattern of gold flowers. Akira stared, stunned; there was no way the woman should have been able to sneak up on her. Even now, her scent eluded the girl, as though she was a ghost. She was undoubtedly a _yokai_.

"Wh-Who are you?" Akira demanded, the confidence she was trying to portray undermined by her stuttering.

The demon-woman smiled, showing glinting white, pointed teeth. "Oh, I don't think that's important, really," she said, voice a warm purr. Akira found that suddenly her eyelids felt heavy just listening to her. "All you need to know," the woman continued, "is that I am the one who will make your life a living hell." Suddenly her voice was not so soothing.

Akira took her only option and bolted for the trees. Or tried to. For some reason, she couldn't look away from the burning eyes of the _yokai. _She couldn't move, and even breathing was taking an enormous amount of effort. Terror gripped her heart with icy fingers.

"I will make you suffer," the demon hissed. Her voice had an odd echo that carried a thrum of power. "You and your kin. Inuyasha and Kagome shall know the pain of losing their child. And you will be known for the monster you are."

Akira's wrist began to itch, then burn. With and an immense effort of will, she turned her head and stared down at her arm. As she watched, a glowing braid of light encircled her wrist. The burning increased until she wanted to cry out with pain, but she refused to give her opponent the satisfaction. Then it stopped, and around her wrist there was now a simple, white, braided bracelet.

All her strength suddenly left her body and she collapsed to her knees, shivering. The edges of her vision began to go dark, but she looked up as the demon approached her with silent grace. Akira bared her fangs and growled warningly, but the sound petered out and she gasped for breath. "What…have you done…to me?" she managed to choke out.

"It's only a simple curse," the woman said, kneeling and gripping Akira's arm. Her voice was kind and soothing once again, lulling the young girl into a forced slumber. As the last of her consciousness slipped away, the _hanyou_ heard, "Now you must run. Leave and never return, unless you wish for the death of all that you hold dear." The woman's laugh hissed like a thousand snakes. "Oh, it's just too brilliant. As long as you wear my little gift, the moment you approach your family…" She leaned close and whispered in Akira's ear, "They will die, and you will become the abhorrent creature that you truly are. _Half-breed_." Akira felt a stinging pain as the woman's nails bit deep into her flesh.

Her world went black.

XxX

Kagome sensed it the same moment Inuyasha did. One minute, she was sitting and laughing with her family, the next she and her _hanyou_ husband were on their feet, hands reaching for there weapons they had left by the wall. Everyone went silent and stared at them.

"Mom?" Ryoku asked, experience telling him there must be a good reason for his parents to act this way, "What is it?"

"A _yokai_," Kagome was barely aware of answering. She was too busy trying to pinpoint this new aura she could suddenly feel. "It's in the forest... I've never felt this presence before."

"Smells like fire," Inuyasha added, ears twitching.

"Is it hostile?" Sango was already reaching for her Demon Slayer clothes.

Inuyasha sniffed again, and Toshi and Ryoku followed his lead. "I'm not sure, it-" He froze, and an expression crossed his face that Kagome had rarely, if ever, seen on him. A combination of stunned disbelief and fear. "Blood," he muttered. He looked to his wife and they locked eyes.

Immediately she understood. "Akira!"

In a flash, she was on his back and they were tearing through the village and across the grass to the _Mori no Inuyasha._ Dimly, Kagome was aware that the others were following just behind themas fast as they could. The only coherent thought in her mind was: _"Smells like fire...blood...Akira..." _In what felt at once like no time at all and several eternities, she and inuyasha had reached the dry well.

"Her scent stops here," the_ hanyou_ said, approaching the wooden structure and sniffing. "I'm picking up more of that _yokai_, but nothing from Akira. It's like she...vanished." He straightened up and looked around, a tinge of desperation in his movements. He looked back to Kagome and said, "I'll check the surrounding woods, see if the scent is really gone."

She nodded, determindly chasing away the niggling fear growing in her chest. "I'll see if I can find any clues here," she said, proud that her voice barely shook. He nodded and was gone. Kagome returned her attention to the well and sent her power out, 'feeling' for the _yokai's_ aura. Inuyasha was right; she could sense fire and something malicious in that aura. The feeling was so strong it nearly drowned out the warm glow Akira's aura had left on the place. The _miko_ knelt and traced her hand over the rim of the well. _"She couldn't have crossed, could she?" _she wondered to herself when her spiritual powers confirmed what her husband had said. All traces of her daughter just...vanished.

She could feel the auras of the rest of her family approaching swiftly and she bit her lip, trying to control her raging worry and, let's face it, fear. She couldn't let Toshi see her so upset. Then something caught at the base of the well caught her attention. With a sudden feeling of dread settling into the pit of her stomach, she reached out and picked up the scrap of blue cloth. The same blue as Akira's kimono. Spattered across it were dashes of bright red.

"_INUYASHA!"_ she screamed just as her sons, Miroku, Sango, the twins, and Hikaru burst through the trees. Inuyasha appeared at her side so quickly it was like he teleported. Shaking, she held the cloth out for him to see.

"No," he muttered. "No, no, _no_!" He punched the well and wood cracked. Feeling hollow inside, Kagome sank to her knees. The pitiful bit of fabric fluttered to her lap, taunting her.

"Oh, no," she heard Sango whisper as the other woman came up behind her.

The words 'Seek but never find, for she has gone beyond all hope' were crudely written on the cloth in Akira's blood.

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><p><strong>In case anyone was wondering, I am basing this fic on the manga, not so much the anime series. (Maybe you already picked up on that.) So if something seems a little off to you, that could be why. Or maybe I'm just being an idiot. Please review and give me your thoughts. Thank you! :)<strong>

**Oh, and props to anyone who can figure out the reason behind the title. PM me with your guesses, I'll let you know if you're right :3**


	2. Love at First Sight

**Hey again. Here's the next chapter so yeah...knock yourselves out :)**

**I apologize for any OOC-ness and the overly-sappy stuff, but it really couldn't be helped. It will make sense later. And I know I said I mostly follow the manga with this fic and that there is a strictly anime character in here but, again, I plead necessity.**

**Ok. Hope you're not bored now 'cause of this drivel A/N. Please review; I like constructive critisism, and knowing people care gives me the motivation to write... OK, I'm really done now. Promise.**

**Breakers (reminder):**

**XxX- POV change**

**...-scene/time change (flashback)**

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><p><em><strong>Love at First Sight<strong>_

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><p>"<em>Run, little half-breed. Run and don't look back." <em>

It had been two days since the fire-woman (as Akira came to think of her) had given the young _hanyou_ that advice. In all that time, she hadn't stopped running. Flashing through the trees, she had only a vague idea of where she was and _no_ plan as to where she was going. She thought she was heading east, toward the mountains, but she wasn't sure. A distant memory of something her father had said spurred her in that direction.

"The _yokai_ that live in those rocks stink so bad they drown out everything else," he'd grumbled once when she asked why he and Miroku never exorcised demons near the mountains. Kagome had told him he was being dramatic, which had lead to one of their frequent (albeit affectionate) bickering matches. The memory made the _hanyou_'s heart pang with homesickness, but she shook it off. She had to be strong.

Maybe Inuyasha had been exaggerating, but Akira ran to the mountains anyway. Something told her that would be the best place to avoid being tracked. To run away. To hide.

"_I don't want to run away,"_ a tiny voice whined in the back of her mind. _"I want to go home!"_ She growled under her breath and ran faster, snarling to the whiney voice, "Shut up!" She couldn't go home. The fire-woman had made that clear.

…

Akira opened her eyes to pools of smoldering blood. She yelped and rolled to her left, slashing out with her claws wildly. Strong, surprisingly cold hands caught her wrists. She struggled, but her limbs felt heavy and her mind fuzzy. There was a funny taste in her mouth. It took her a moment to realize it was blood.

"Now, darling, behave." A soft, warm voice spoke and her eyes were drawn to the speaker against her will. It was the red-haired demon that held her immobile with a vice-like grip and a honeyed voice. Her blood-red eyes caught and held Akira's gaze. _This_ was what she had first mistaken for burning pools of scarlet blood. When she saw those eyes memory came flooding back. Memory and, to her annoyance, fear; so much power radiated from this _yokai_ that the girl was amazed the surrounding trees didn't burst into flame.

"_Trees," _she thought, relieved. So they were still in the _Mori no Inuyasha_. But it wasn't a part of the forest she recognized. Or maybe that was just her muddled brain. Refocusing on the woman that held her captive she mumbled, "Who are you?"

The _yokai _laughed her snaky laugh. "I already told you, that is not important." Her grip tightened and the bracelet on Akira's wrist began to itch and burn. She gritted her teeth and glared at her kidnapper.

"Let me go," she snarled, baring her fangs. The woman just laughed again.

"And where would you go? Home? You have no home now, darling." She smiled. Her knife-like teeth glinted dangerously.

Akira continued to glare at her, stubbornly silent. She wanted to claw the smirk of this wench's face, but her body wouldn't obey her.

The fire-woman must have seen the girl's hate and frustration in her face, for her smile widened. "You want to hurt me, don't you?" she whispered, "But you are powerless compared to me. You are _nothing_."

Rage ripped through Akira's chest and she growled to release the tension. "Even if you kill me," she spat, "my family will hunt you down. And then they will kick…your…ass. And then they will kill you. Slowly." It was hot air and she knew it, but threatening gave her the illusion that she was somewhat in control.

Her words had no effect on her captor other than to amuse her. She laughed. "I like your spirit," she admitted, "It is such a shame I will have to break it." Then she leaned close and whispered her curse in Akira's ear. With each word, a black shadow of despair spread over the girl's heart. When the fire-woman pulled back and saw her expression (she wasn't quick enough to hide it) she laughed again. She stood and flung Akira away from herself in one fluid motion. "So you see," she said cordially, "I've done you a favor by carrying you here, really. I've masked your scent for a time." Continuing as though she was doing nothing more interesting than giving a friend directions, she pointed off into the distance and said, "The sea is that way." She pointed a different direction. "The mountains are that way." She pointed one last time. "And your…_village_ is that way." She fixed Akira with her burning eyes and advised, "Make your choice quickly. And then run, little half-breed. Run and don't look back."

…

The _yokai _had disappeared in a flash of red light and a burst of heat. Akira had lain on the ground where she'd landed for several heartbeats, trying to wrap her brain around her new situation. Then she leaped to her feet in a spasmodic burst of movement and took off through the unfamiliar trees. In the two days since then she hadn't stopped once to eat or sleep. She would have, once the sun went down that first night, but there were strange noises in the forest at night that spurred her on. She was _not_ interested in meeting any more _yokai_.

Akira glanced up through the leafy canopy when she made a particularly powerful leap and saw that the mountains were much closer than she originally thought. _"Maybe I can just rest for a few minutes," _her exhausted body suggested. She began looking for a place to stop that wouldn't hinder her if she had to flee quickly.

The ironic humor of her situation suddenly struck her and she gave a breathless chuckle. _"And to think three days ago I wished my life was more interesting."_

XxX

"Anything?" Kagome called, craning her head back and watching Inuyasha jump from branch to branch as he approached. Her bow was strapped across her back along with a quiver full of arrows she was itching to use. But she couldn't track with a bow, she couldn't shoot a scent.

"I think so." Inuyasha dropped down beside her and she saw his hand was hovering near Tetsusaiga's hilt. "Akira's scent is starting to come through. I think whoever that _yokai_ was carried her until this point."

"But why?" Kagome asked, exasperated. "What is the point of hiding her trail until now, it's like this _yokai_ just wanted to get a head start…" Her voice trailed off and she met Inuyasha's eyes as they both considered this new possibility. "If that's really what he, or she, was doing, that still leaves _why_." She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "Why?" she whispered, voice breaking, "Why her? I-" She took in a shaky breath. "I want my baby back."

Inuyasha hovered next to Kagome. Even after almost two decades of being together he still sometimes felt uncertain around her. _"Damnit_," he thought as he awkwardly laid a hand on her shoulder. Then he decided to wing it and tugged her into a hug, letting her rest her head against his chest. "It-it'll be okay," he muttered, "We'll get her back." Her hair tickled his chin as she nodded and her warm, rich scent filled his nose. Then she pulled away and gave him a brave smile.

"You're right. I'm being silly." She took a deep breath and set her shoulders. Steely determination shone in her blue eyes. Inuyasha let a half-smile quirk the corner of his mouth. Sometimes he forgot how beautiful his wife was. Never for long.

"_Focus," _he admonished himself. Jerking his head in the direction of the scent trail he said, "This way."

"Right." In a practiced movement Kagome leaped up so he was carrying her piggy-back and then they were off. As they traveled, Inuyasha realized he had been right; after the last place the scents intertwined, the strange _yokai_'s simply disappeared, while Akira's grew stronger. The familiar scent of his daughter was flavored with fear and…he had trouble placing it. Sorrow, he finally decided. He relayed all this to Kagome, a growl lurking just behind his tone. Her hands on his shoulders tightened.

"I'm only picking up the faintest sense of her aura," she told him, "It's like something is blocking her."

"If spiritual power isn't working," he said as he leaped a fallen branch, "then Toshi wouldn't have done much good even if he had come along."

Kagome sighed. "I do hope he's not mad at us anymore."

Inuyasha snorted and said, "Keh. He'll be fine. He was just throwing a temper tantrum." He remembered two days ago, when Kagome had found the warning left by Akira's kidnapper. It had immediately been decided that Miroku and Sango would search the forest and surrounding area for any hint as to the who, what, and why of the situation, and Ryoku would head toward the sea. Hikaru would stay behind to explain to Kohaku what had happened when he arrived and the two would meet up with Ryoku later. Gina would contact Inuyasha's old friend/eternal pest Shippo the _kitsune_ and Cho would stay behind to watch over her and Gina's children and Toshi.

"I wanna come too!" the boy had complained.

"Out of the question," Kagome had snapped, by then having regained her control. "You're too young; we can't spend time worrying about you."

"Uncle Shippo was younger than me when you guys searched for the _Shikon no Tama_," Toshi argued, "and I've been training really hard. I can help!" he glared up at his parents with huge violet eyes. They shone with a film of tears he refused to let fall.

Seeing the fragile look in Kagome's eyes, Inuyasha knew she was close to her breaking point and decided to step in. "Look," he growled, kneeling in front of his youngest child, "We're not negotiating. You're staying here and that's the end of it. I know you want to help, but the best way you can do that now is by staying here and protecting the village. Kaede is way too old to do it herself now. Got it?"

Ears drooping sullenly, Toshi had nodded. Then he ran off through the trees and back home (Inuyasha assumed- where else would he go?). When the search parties left an hour later, he didn't come to say good-bye.

"Stop!" Kagome yelled suddenly. Inuyasha snapped back to attention and stopped so quickly that the _miko_ almost tumbled off his back.

"What?" he asked, picking up on her excitement. Then her disappointment.

"It's- never mind. It's gone," she said miserably. "I thought for a moment that I felt her aura, but…"

Inuyasha looked around and sniffed the air. Akira's scent was a little stronger, maybe she had paused here. But _where _was _here_? As far as he could tell, they had left the _Mori no Inuyasha_; they were in a different forest now. They had stopped in a clearing with a single, huge tree in its center. Because he couldn't smell any enemies nearby and he could tell how tired Kagome was getting, he decided the clearing would be a good place to stop and rest. Kagome required some cajoling, but eventually she climbed down from his back and pulled some food out of the pack she'd brought along. They settled themselves among the roots of the giant tree to rest and eat.

They were quiet for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. Inuyasha's were something along the lines of, _"If I ever catch that damn _yokai_, I'm gonna…" _He took a rather sadistic pleasure in filling in the blank. Worry for Akira was also at the forefront of his mind. He tried to convince himself that his daughter was tough enough to handle herself, but couldn't quite manage it. Judging from the slump of Kagome's shoulders, she was thinking something similar. The seconds ticked by in silence.

Suddenly Kagome giggled. Inuyasha stared at her. She looked up at him with a small smile lighting her face and said, "Sorry. I know I shouldn't be, but for some reason I feel happy." She giggled again. It was a sweet, girlish sound that he hadn't heard in years. "It's just…being like this…together. It feels like old times. It makes me happy." She sighed contentedly and leaned against him.

"If I remember, in the old times I used to get the 's-word' a lot," Inuyasha grumbled. Kagome laughed again.

"I'm sorry, but you deserved getting the rosary, attacking me like that."

"Keh!" But he was smiling, just a little. It was oddly comforting, to be with Kagome out on a search. But what they sought now was more precious to them both than any jewel. Trying to keep the mood lighter (a sullen Kagome scared him), Inuyasha mused aloud, "I wonder who would have thought back then that we'd end up…" He gestured between himself and his wife.

"Married?" Kagome supplied. "I suppose it wasn't exactly love at first sight," she agreed. As she did, a memory surfaced in the back of her mind. It was her first sight of Inuyasha, when he'd been nailed to the _Goshinboku_ by Kikyo's sacred arrow. He had seemed peacefully asleep, and she remembered the way the light had highlighted his features and made his silver hair shine. And she would never forget the moment she looked up and saw his amber-gold eyes staring down at her for the first time. Even held immobile, he'd been haughty, arrogant, boastful, and crude…but those eyes…_"Love at first sight," _she thought pensively.

Unaware of his wife's musings, Inuyasha was thinking something similar himself. He remembered how Kagome had looked when he first saw her. She was being chased by a demon and her clothes and face were covered with dirt. She'd fallen to the ground below his feet when the Mistress Centipede sent her flying; but, weak human though she was, she'd pushed herself up again. Even battered and disheveled, he couldn't (no matter what he claimed otherwise) deny that she was beautiful. Part of it was her similarity to Kikyo, but there was something else, something that was uniquely Kagome. And when he'd called her by Kikyo's name she had glared at him with those big blue eyes and announced defiantly, "My name is _Kagome_!" Looking back on it, he thought that perhaps at that moment…

"No," he said, "definitely not love at first sight." He put his arm around her waist. She looked at him. He looked at her. Their eyes met and held.

"_Maybe…"_

XxX

Akira slumped onto a log that lay on an angle between two trees, exhausted. She had never pushed herself so much before, and her heart was beating so hard she thought it was about to pound right out of her chest. She leaned back, gazing up through the forest canopy to see the mountains in the distance.

_"If I push on just a little more, I might be able to get there by tomorrow morning," _she thought. But she was so tired…"I'll just rest for a minute longer," she said aloud. Despite her determination to stay awake, her eyes began to drift closed.

CRACK.

Her eyes snapped open and she launched herself into a flip, gripping one of the branches above her head to swing agilely away from the russet and gray blur that had tried to attack her. Without even thinking about it, she let go of the branch and dropped down on her assailant's back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. An overpowering smell of mountain water, blustering wind, and primal animal musk filled her nose. The scent was so strong she gagged as it almost overloaded her senses.

"Who are you?" she growled, tightening her strangle hold.

Instead of answering, her attacker reached back and swiped at her, clawing her shoulder. She hissed in pain but held on as he continued to scratch at her arms and legs. She held on when he dropped and rolled across the ground in an attempt to shake her. She even held on when he rammed her back against a tree and stars burst in her vision. But no matter how determined she was, she was simply too tired to hold out long. She finally let go and dropped to the ground, landing in a predator's crouch. Her opponent spun around, hands raised to attack again.

Surprise jolted through her when she got a good look at his face. He was young, maybe only a year older than she was, and quite handsome with ice blue eyes and strongly defined features. Not that his attractiveness made up for him trying to _kill her_. He wore strange armor that covered his torso but left his arms bare and an even stranger kilt-like garment that appeared to be made of gray fur. His shaggy, russet hair flopped in front of his eyes and he shook his head impatiently to clear his vision. The gesture so reminded her of Toshi that she couldn't stop the half-laugh, half-sob that burst from her mouth.

The noise startled the boy, who moved back a pace warily. He glared at her as if he was calculating the best way to rip her throat out.

Akira's weariness and loneliness finally got the best of her. Whether this boy killed her or not, she just couldn't summon up the energy to care, so she flopped down on the leafy forest floor. "Get on with it then," she said tiredly, looking up at him. She noticed vaguely that his ears were humanoid, but pointed. Another _yokai_. Fabulous.

This seemed to surprise him even more than her hysterical laugh-cry. He dropped his hands and straightened out of his fighting pose, staring at her. "What?"

It was her turn to stare at him incredulously. "Are you going to kill me or aren't you?" she asked.

The boy's eyes widened, then he relaxed his posture and leaned against a tree. He closed his eyes halfway and regarded her lazily. "Heh. You're not worth my time."

"And yet you have time to inform me of that," Akira grumbled, pushing herself to her feet. She winced as her cuts and sore muscles protested. The boy watched her, lean muscle tensing, and she realized he wasn't quite as relaxed as he pretended. "Calm down," she snapped, "I don't want to fight. If you recall, _you_ attacked _me_."

Anger blazed in his icy eyes. "Watch it, bitch," he growled, stepping toward her menacingly, "You're on _my _territory; you're lucky I didn't kill you."

"Hah," Akira scoffed, using her father's old fall-back: even if you can never win, act like you can. "I'd like to see you try."

He flexed his claws. "Bring it on, _hanyou,_" he spat. At her momentary flash of surprise, he smirked and said, "I could smell the human in you a mile away."

A growl rumbled in her chest as she faced him again, sinking into a crouch. She mentally cursed her exhaustion and wondered if she could even make it out of another fight with this guy alive. He was strong, and quick; she didn't like her odds. Just as the two teenagers were about to begin another bloody conflict, a new scent reached Akira's nose, similar to the boy's. He must have smelled it too, because he straightened from his crouch and took a step back, annoyance written on his features.

"Izo, enough," a sharp voice accompanied the scent, cutting through the air like a dagger. Out of the trees came three new figures, two men and a women, all dressed like the boy (Izo, Akira gathered). The men's fur-wrappings were brown and one, who had white-ish gray hair with a streak of darker gray, had some sort of vest of the same fur. The other man wore a chain across his body like a shawl and had his shock of white hair in spikes down the middle of his head. The woman's fur was white, and she had a white furry cape to go with it. Her armor was black, like her male companions', but with a strip of red at the top. Auburn red hair (Akira started when she saw it, then reminded herself this woman was certainly _not_ her fire-woman)was pulled back from her face high on either side of her head. Clear green eyes regarded the girl coolly.

_"What the hell?" _Akira thought. She'd had enough strange looking people accost her in the last two days. She did not need this.

"She's trespassing, Mother," Izo muttered, eyes on his feet. Akira struggled to hide her surprise, thought the news that this young-looking demon was a mother shouldn't shock her so. Her own parents looked barely older than Ryoku; if there was one thing she knew, it was that appearances could be deceiving.

"Technically, we are not on pack lands yet," the woman said, her eyes never leaving Akira's face. The younger girl stared her down, determined not to show weakness. Finally, the _yokai_-woman broke the staring contest. Turning to look at her son she admonished, "You should not have attacked the girl without first knowing her intentions."

Izo looked, if possible, even angrier. Akira expected him to shout and rage and maybe even attack, but instead he held his tongue, glaring at the ground. Wow. This mother of his must be some powerful demon. Said powerful demon looked at Akira again, then nodded to herself like she was making a decision.

"Ginta, Hakkaku," she barked. The two men snapped to attention at her sides. "Head back and warn my husband that we have a guest this evening," she said, smiling slowly.

With many "Okay"s and "You got it"s, they took off through the trees. They left so fast that to Akira it seemed as though their fur-things were tails trailing behind them. Or were they really… but she had bigger problems.

"Hang on," she protested, glaring at the two demons before her, "Who said I'm going anywhere with you? I have my own places to be and if you don't want to get sliced up you should stay out of my way." She flexed her claws to make her point.

Whatever she had been expecting, it was not for the woman to throw back her head and laugh like this was the funniest thing she'd ever hear, showing off long, gleaming canines. "Oh," she gasped, "my dear girl, you act as if you have a choice."

Immediately, Akira's literal and metaphorical hackles went up. A growl rumbled in her chest. "Listen, lady, you-"

The woman cut her off. "First, my name is Ayame, not _lady_. Second, _you_ had better listen if you know what's good for you." She raised an eyebrow. "Any fool can see that you are in no condition to take a brisk walk, let alone fight. Now where was I?" She pursed her lips, then launched right back into talking. Akira felt even more tired and confused than she already did just _watching_ her. "Ah yes; if you heading east, as it appears you are, then you will soon be in our territory anyway. All newcomers are either chased off or introduced to our leader. If you would rather struggle futilely until you are simply too exhausted to continue and we drag your unconscious body back with us, that's fine. But it seems like much less work to simply come alone without a fuss, don't you think? It's not as if we're kidnapping you; think of us as a… an escort." She smiled, but the expression wasn't at all friendly. It was more like she was baring her teeth. "So will you come quietly or not?"

Akira's whole bady was still tensed, the growl still vibrating in her throat. What she wanted to do more than anything was launch herself into the trees and dash away, but she was too tired to get far. Next on her list of 'Preferred Get-Out-Of-Shit' maneuvers was to fight. But she had learned from Kagome as well as Inuyasha. _"Never back down,"_ her father would have said. _"Unless you can live longer if you do," _her mother would have put in sensibly. "I…will go with you," she muttered, swallowing her pride.

Ayame's smile widened. "Good." Then she tossed back her head and howled. There was a rustling in the surrounding trees and Akira whipped her gaze from side to side. The mountain water-wind-musk scent that wafted from these _yokai_ and which she had been trying to identify since Izo attacked her suddenly became ridiculously overpowering. It clicked into place in her mind.

"Damnit," she whispered as a dozen pairs of glowing, predatory eyes blinked out at her from the shadows of the trees. "_Wolves__**.**_"


	3. Den of the Wolves

_**Den of the Wolves**_

* * *

><p>"This way. Come on, <em>hanyou, <em>keep up!" The waterfall that tumbled down beside the climbers almost drowned out these words as the woman in the lead called back to the young, black-haired girl bringing up the rear of the procession.

Akira glowered at Ayame's back as the wolf _yokai_ bounded gracefully up the rocks. Her son, Izo, was a few paces behind her and after him came a dozen or so large, feral wolves. "I have a name you know!" she shouted up to them. The dog half-demon tried not to show how tired she was from the climb; full-blooded demons already looked down on her. "It's Akira!" she added, panting slightly. They had already climbed a good deal to get to this little valley in the mountains and she was sick of it.

"That's lovely, dear!" Ayame shouted back. Akira didn't need to see Izo's face to know he was rolling his eyes.

"I don't know why we're going through so much trouble for her," he complained, not bothering to keep his voice down. "We even hid her scent trail just 'cause she asked. What's so special about this stupid half-breed?"

Akira's blood began to boil. Her exhaustion forgotten, she tensed her legs and jumped. She cleared a good ten feet and most of the (four-legged) wolves. "Don't call me that," she growled, jumping up and landing lightly beside the russet-haired boy.

"Oh, you don't like that?" His voice was mockingly concerned and his eyes were full of contempt. Akira growled and raised her claws threateningly.

"Izo, behave yourself!" Ayame snapped. "And- ah- Akira? Please refrain from slashing my son." Before either teenager had time to respond, the _yokai_-woman announced, "Here we are!" In the blink of an eye, she disappeared behind the waterfall. The wolves followed her.

Izo offered Akira a mocking hand and simpered, "After you, please." She glared and slipped past him. As she walked into the hidden cave she heard the boy hiss, "Half-breed," in her ear.

"That's _it_!" she shouted, and whirled around. Before the boy had time to react, she grabbed the straps of his armor and used his own weight to hurl him over her hip and to the stone floor. He shouted in anger and rolled to his feet, legs bent in a hunter's crouch. She struck faster than she ever thought she could and punched him solidly in the gut. He doubled over, gasping. A growl rumbled in Akira's chest and the heat of battle raced across her skin. The air around her tightened and her vision began to tint red.

"_Get a hold of yourself!" _a voice in the back of her mind suddenly cried. She blinked and her sight returned to normal; the tension left her body and her weariness swept back in. She swayed on her feet with the effort to remain upright. She looked around and realized that she was surrounded by a pack of snarling wolves, a few of which had stepped in front of Izo protectively. Beyond them were more wolves, but these stood on two legs and wore clothing similar to that of Izo and Ayame. There were dozens of them.

"_Enemy, danger, run,_" Akira's instincts screamed at her, but she held her ground. With enormous effort she kept herself from collapsing to the ground and met the wolf-_yokais_' many pairs of distrustful eyes. Despite the many reprimands she and her brothers received from their mother for their language, one word came to mind: _"Fuck."_

Izo glared at the _hanyo_ girl as he straightened up. She was just standing there, staring around with big gold eyes while the rest of her face remained impassive. Aside from the sweat beading her brow and the slight trembling in her limbs no one but a _yokai_ would have known how weary she was; Izo only knew because he could smell it in the air around her. He couldn't believe she had overpowered him so easily. It was humiliating! But he didn't let any emotion except his anger bubble to the surface. Growling, he started to lunge forward when for the second time that day a voice from behind him halted his attack.

"Stop!"

The growing crowd of wolves and _yokai_ parted to let the speaker through. Most nodded respectfully as he passed and a few murmured, "Chief." The man stopped next to Izo and gave him a quick once-over with eyes the exact shade of the boy's own. Like most of the pack, he wore black and gray armor and brown furs as well as a pair of furry arm bands. Nothing except the way he carried himself, with an air of arrogance, would make anyone assume he was the leader of the wolf _yokai_.

"Father," Izo muttered, looking at his feet. Damnit, he _hated_ when his parents looked at him like that; like he was a disappointment.

His father didn't respond. Izo looked at him, surprised, and saw that his eyes were trained on the _hanyo_ bitch. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably under the pressure of so many stares but glared right back. Izo grudgingly had to admit that she had guts. Then his father did the last thing he was expecting.

"Kagome?" the chief of the _yokai_ tribe muttered, so low only Izo and the _hanyo_ could hear him. Akira started and stared at Izo's father as though he'd just smacked her between the eyes. Then Kouga shook his head and said, louder, "No. Sorry, you look like someone I know: an old…friend. Smell a bit like her, too." His hesitation over the word friend confused Izo more than the rest of the conversation. In all his sixteen years, he had never seen or heard his father hesitate over _anything_.

To add to the boy's utter feeling of being lost, the girl's eyes seemed to light up with a sudden understanding. Her ears flicked slightly in what looked to Izo like excitement. "Are you Kouga?" she asked slowly, cocking her head to the side like an inquisitive pup.

Kouga frowned, puzzled. "Yes, but how-" His eyes suddenly went very wide and Izo could practically feel the tension leave the crowded cave as the chief smiled. "You're her daughter, aren't you?" he asked.

Akira nodded, still looking wary. Then, to everyone's great surprise, Ayame dashed from the crowd and threw her arms around the girl.

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't put it together!" she cried, beaming. "I know we've never met, but you do look just like her, and I can't believe I couldn't smell her on you." As she continued chattering, Akira looked more and more stunned. Which was pretty much how Izo felt.

"Father," he said quietly, "what the hell is going on?"

Kouga looked at him and opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment Ayame gave a small exclamation of, "Oh!" and the males turned their attention back to the woman and girl. Akira had fainted and she was slumped unconscious in Ayame's arms.

…

_The clear water of the stream swirled away from her stained with red. She stood in the middle of the flowing water and ducked her head under. The chill was enough to fully return her senses. She broke through the surface and sucked in air, then looked down at her hands._

_A small whimper lodged in her throat; the scent of blood still reeked on her claws. The ten-year-old let out a small cry and dunked her hands under the water again, scrubbing furiously. She was soaked to the bone and shivering, but still she refused to step from the stream. _"I have to wash the smell off,"_ she thought desperately. She saw her own reflection when the water calmed for a moment: golden eyes, jet hair, drooping ears. She blinked and another image seemed to superimpose itself over the one in the water; a reflection that showed glowing red eyes, glinting fangs, and a blood-stained face. A monster._

"_I'm not a monster!" she shouted defiantly, slashing her hand through the image. "I'm not! I'm not, I-"_

"mm notta mnster," Akira mumbled, hands clenching into fists.

"Did she say something?"

"She's conscious? Quick, get water or something!"

Voices. The shuffling sound of feet on stone. The overwhelming scent of mountains, cold streams, tearing winds, and wolves. Akira senses were bombarded with strange sensations and her eyes flew open. Once again she found herself lying on the ground gazing up into an almost-unfamiliar face.

"Rise and shine, dear," Ayame chirped and Akira remembered where she was.

"How long was I out?" she groaned, pushing herself up onto her elbows.

"Almost two hours." She looked over her shoulder and saw Kouga approaching, his son at his shoulder. Izo barely glanced at her before huffing and turning away.

"Great. She's fine now, can I go?" he snapped, shoulders tense. Without waiting for an answer, he stalked away. Akira heard a distinct splash and she assumed he'd jumped through the waterfall.

"Forgive my son," Kouga sighed, "He'll be the next chief, so we try to teach him the proper way to treat visitors. He…has some issues to work on."

Ayame laughed. "As if you were any different when you first became leader," she teased.

Kouga scowled and muttered something under his breath and Ayame laughed harder. Watching them reminded Akira of her own parents and gave her a pang of homesickness. But she couldn't dwell on it; she had bigger problems. "Ah, excuse me." The two _yokai_ looked at her when she spoke up. "So…you're not going to kill me, then?"

"Of course not, dear," Ayame said, looking shocked at the very idea; Akira glanced around the cave and thought that, judging from some of the other wolf-_yokais'_ expressions, it may not have been a unanimous decision.

Despite these demons' obvious dislike for her, a plan began to form in Akira's mind. _"They stink so bad they drown out everything else," _her father had said. Speaking cautiously, she asked, "Then what _are _you going to do with me?"

Ayame and Kouga exchanged a look. Then Kouga gripped her arm and hauled her to her feet. Her instinct was to jerk away, but she checked herself at the last moment. "First, we talk," he said, guiding her to the back of the cave with Ayame walking on her other side. They passed groups of _yokai_ sitting around chewing on meat-covered bones and lounging on piles of furs. Akira gagged at the smell; it wasn't _bad_ exactly, but it was very strong. It was like looking into a blinding light, only for her nose.

"Here, sit." Because she was still weak, when Kouga shoved her toward a large mound of furs she really had no choice but to follow his order. She sat. "Now talk."

Akira bristled at being ordered around, but she complied; she needed these _yokai _to trust her. "I will, but I want some answers first. Please," she added grudgingly.

"What do you want to know?" Ayame asked, expression suddenly serious. Perhaps she wasn't as ditzy as Akira had assumed.

"Well, why are you being so nice to me? I know you knew my parents, but aren't you supposed to be a little more…demonic?" she asked.

"Oh, we're a bit more civilized than we used to be," Ayame said and Kouga rolled his eyes. "Of course," she smiled that teeth-bearing smile, "we are still wolves, and you would do well to remember that while you're here. Not many of our kind have a high opinion of half-demons."

Akira looked beyond hem at the several dozen _yokai _that populated the cave. Even the four-legged wolves seemed downright friendly in comparison. She gulped. "I'll keep that in mind," she said fervently. "Next then-"

"No, now it's our turn," Kouga interrupted, leaning against a rough stone wall with his arms crossed. His arrogance, though less obnoxious, was identical to Izo's and raised her hackles.

"_I need them to like me," _she reminded herself. Settling into a more comfortable position on the furs she looked him in the eye and shrugged. "Fine. Ask."

Kouga smirked at her attitude. "Right to the point then: what are you doing here?"

Izo let the spray from the waterfall soak him as he stood by the basin. The water was freezing, but he didn't care; the cold against his rage-hot skin felt good. That stupid half-breed! What was she even doing here? He didn't care if their parents were old friends (though judging from his father's tone their dads hadn't really gotten along); she didn't have any right to come waltzing into his life. He had enough to deal with. He didn't need some _hanyo_ bitch knocking him down in front of the whole pack, he didn't care how pretty she was.

"_Whoa, boy!"_ He blinked and shook his head, sending water droplets flying. _"Don't even go there."_ Not that he really even considered her _that way_. She was too pushy for his taste.

"Oi, Izo!" He ducked out of the way and a hand whistled through the air over his head. Dropping low, he spun underneath his opponent's guard and grabbed the attacker's wrists. With a quick jerk, he threw the smaller wolf-_yokai _boy into the water.

A low whistle sounded to his left and he looked over. A tall, lanky boy with tan-brown hair and eyes a peculiar shade of yellowy green was approaching with a loping stride. "Aw, man, Izo," he said, bending down and reaching out to the boy who was sputtering as he fumbled his way onto the shore. "You pissed, or what?"

Izo snorted. "He's had worse," he said, reaching down to help too. The scrawny boy gasped pathetically. His gray hair was plastered across his forehead and brown eyes that seemed too large for his face glared up at Izo accusingly. "Come on, Yorokobi," Izo sighed. "Just get-" Before he could finish he hit the water face first.

He broke the surface spitting water. His friends were practically rolling on the ground with laughter and it was immediately apparent what had happened. Yorokobi had pulled him down at the same moment Joudan gave him a shove from behind.

"Your face!" Joudan chortled, bent nearly double. Yorokobi couldn't even speak through his laughter.

Izo tried to stay angry. He really did. But he just couldn't manage it; it was why he was friends with the idiots to begin with. He began to laugh too, cupping his hand and splashing a wave of water over the other two boys. After a good ten minutes of acting like spring pups, the three young _yokai _climbed up onto one of the lower rocks near the trail that led to the home cave and lay out under the sun. Their armor was scattered around them, drying.

"So," Yorokobi said eventually, "what's up with that half-demon girl anyway?"

And just like that Izo's bad mood returned. He growled and sat up, flicking a glare up to where he knew the half-breed was chatting away with his parents.

"Oh," Joudan said as if a single growl was an entire speech, "That's what's up."

Quickly, Izo explained how they'd met Akira while out hunting. His voice took on a grudging tone of respect when he described her fighting, but he maintained the only reason she'd dropped him was that she had the advantage of surprise. "So after she passed out-" he was finishing when Yorokobi jumped in.

"Saw that. Dang, she was _out_. Smelled exhausted too."

Izo glared at him and he snapped his mouth closed. Joudan waved a hand for him to continue. "Anyway, Father told me she's the daughter of some old friend of his. They knew each other about twenty years ago, apparently. Mother said they met her brother or something when he was a pup, but they haven't had contact with the family for over ten years." He gave a heavy exhale of exasperation. "Damn bitch. Wonder how long it'll be before she realizes she can't just waltz in here and expect the royal treatment." Then he stood so suddenly the other two almost rolled off the rock. "Well come on," he said, jumping up to the next foothold, "Let's go see if Mother had eaten our _guest_ yet." His friends' laughter echoed up the waterfall after him. He was grinning himself when he ducked into the cave and loped to the back where he could see his parents kneeling beside the still tired-looking Akira.

"Ah, there you are son," Kouga said as the boy approached. Izo scowled. It was as if he was late for an appointment or something. He huffed and let his eyes wonder over to the _hanyo_. Her own gaze met his, golden irises glinting dangerously. For a moment he wondered why she was staring at him with such an expression of surprise. Then her eyes moved up and down his body and she raised an eyebrow slowly. He remembered he wasn't wearing his armor, or really anything from the waist up. Unexpectedly, he felt heat rise in his cheeks. Akira smirked at his discomfort.

He snorted and turned his attention to Ayame. "So? What are we doing with her?" he asked as if Akira wasn't present.

Ayame gave him a look but answered calmly, "Akira here has told us she's taking a…sabbatical of sorts. She's taking time away from her family to learn more about survival on her own. It's a very good thing we ran into her; she has a lot to learn."

Akira blushed furiously and glared down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. It was Izo's turn to smirk. That is, until his mother finished with, "So she will stay here for the night. Tomorrow we will decide what to 'do with her'." She fixed her clear green eyes on him and said in a tone that offered no argument, "I expect you both to behave." She switched her gaze to Akira for a long moment, then stood and took her husband's arm. "Come on, Kouga. We still need to organize that scouting party." They left, leaving the two teenagers to glare at each other.

"Don't think you'll be here long, _half-breed_," Izo spat and turned to go.

"I don't plan on it," she snapped back. There was a beat of silence, then he froze when she added, "Stupid _pup_."

XxX

"Jump, I'll catch you!" Inuyasha called, looking up into the treetop. He muttered a few choice curses as his wife's grip on her branch slipped and she lurched forward. How she managed to get herself stuck up there still eluded him. He supposed the strap of her bag had gotten stuck when he jumped down. "Come on," he urged, growing impatient.

"I think I can climb down," Kagome called back. She moved a foot and distinct cracking sound snapped through the air. She jerked closer to the trunk. "Never mind. I'm jumping." She closed her eyes and Inuyasha saw her lips move as if in prayer.

"No trust," he grumbled as she jumped. He lifted his arms and she thumped gently into them. He let himself hold her for a moment, her familiar weight a comforting pressure against his chest, then set her down.

"Well. That wasn't so bad." She grinned up at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "What would I do without you?" she asked fondly, eyes twinkling.

"Keh." He folded his arms and looked away, sniffing deeply. A growl rumbled in his throat and he muttered, "Fuck. Nothing."

Kagome's good humor faded. "At all?" she asked, a tad desperately. Inuyasha had lost their daughter's scent almost a mile back, saying it began to blend with the smell of the wolf-_yokai_ from the mountains. Since then, they'd been searching along the border of the wolves' territory, hoping to find some hint of Akira. She silently cursed her inability to trace their daughter's aura; that would have been more difficult to lose than a scent.

Inuyasha shook his head angrily. "I just don't get it. If she got away from the demon, why wouldn't she head home? Why come to the mountains?"

Kagome shrugged helplessly. And "helpless" was not a term she enjoyed applying to herself, especially in this situation. "Should we head into wolf territory? Maybe Kouga or his pack have seen her."

When Inuyasha didn't immediately explode at the mention of the _yokai_ chief's name and instead seemed to be seriously considering her suggestion, she knew he was really worried about Akira. And if Inuyasha was worried… She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Or we could head back to the village, try to meet up with the others," she began to ramble. "Maybe they've found something. Or maybe Akira _did_ go home and we just missed her trail. Or-"

"Kagome." Inuyasha said her name like a command. _"Be quiet_._"_ She sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was just thinking out lou-"

"_Kagome_," he said again. This time she looked at him and realized why he was hushing her; his eyes glinted and his nostrils flared. His ears twitched back and forth rapidly. They were not alone. Meeting her eyes, he jerked his head to the left, slowly moving his hand to Tetsusaiga's hilt. She nodded and reached for her bow.

Without any visible signal to each other, they moved in perfect sync. Kagome fired an arrow into the brush that Inuyasha had indicated and he leaped around to cut off whoever had been listening to them from behind. There was flash of light as her arrow made contact and something squealed in pain. Kagome rush forward just as Inuyasha stalked toward her, Tetsusaiga held threateningly in front of him as he pushed back a scuttling sort of creature.

The _yokai_ most reminded Kagome of their acquaintance Jaken, who traveled with Inuyasha's older brother, except this creature was cherry red and a little more snake-like. It whimpered and groveled at their feet, yammering, "Nice people, don't hurt poor Spark, please don't, nice people."

"Quit jabbering," Inuyasha growled, thrusting the point of Tetsusaiga under the creature's chin. "Why were you spying on us?"

The poor creature continued to babble in terror, occasionally slipping into a hissing sort of language that was alien to Kagome. She looked at Inuyasha questioningly and he shrugged; he couldn't understand the _yokai_ either. Growling with exasperation, the half-demon bent down and grabbed the little demon by the front of its creamy tan robes. He lifted it off its feet so it was staring into his face and said, "Look, I'm _not_ in a good mood right now. If you want to live, start talking."

"Inuyasha," Kagome admonished, walking to his side. She placed a hand gently on his arm and he rolled his eyes, but dropped their little spy. Kneeling in front of the creature, Kagome tried a different tactic. "We just want to know why you were listening to us- er, Spark, was it?"

Spark nodded and sniffled pitifully. He looked up at Kagome with big poison-green eyes and mumbled, "Mistress told me, mistress said 'Give them warning', so poor Spark goes and gets hit with light and scary sword." He glared at them reproachfully.

Kagome's mind was whirling and she felt Inuyasha tense beside her. But she had to keep the creature calm if she wanted to get information out of him. "I'm sorry about that sacred arrow," she said, smiling kindly. When he stared at her blankly she sighed and said, "The light that hurt you."

Spark frowned and muttered darkly. Before he could start jabbering again, she said quickly, "This warning you're supposed to give: what is it? And who is your mistress?"

When the little _yokai _didn't answer immediately Kagome felt Inuyasha shift beside her. She knew he would much rather beat the information out of him and honestly, she was reaching that point herself. If her daughter's safety wasn't at stake, she'd like to believe she'd be more patient; however matters being what they were, it took all her self-control not to strangle Spark.

"Supposed to tell you," Spark said eventually, and both Kagome and Inuyasha leaned ever so slightly forward. "That mistress can help you. She knows about lost girl."

Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga tighter as though it was the neck of the _yokai _that had taken his daughter. Losing his cool, he once again grabbed the demon by the front of his robes and hoisted him into the air. "Where…is…my…daughter?" he ground out.

Spark's eyes went wide and Inuyasha silently cursed his temper. Then an alien scent reached his nose and he realized whatever had the _yokai _so scared wasn't him; it was _behind_ him. He whipped around, nose filled with the smell of smoke and spice, and saw something that sent a tingle of apprehension down his neck. Beside him, Kagome sucked in a breath.

The trees surrounding them were filled with enormous, slit-eyed, fork-tongued, brimstone-smelling snakes. Each one was as thick around as the tree trunks and their scales were a smoldering orange. Glowing red eyes glared at Inuyasha, Kagome, and Spark. The _miko _reached for her bow and Inuyasha dropped Spark on his head, drawing Tetsusaiga.

"Not good. Very bad," Spark muttered, scuttling behind the half-demon and his wife.

Inuyasha raised his sword. "Keh. That's the first sensible thing you've said."


	4. The Dragon Queen

**_The Dragon Queen_**

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><p><strong>Hey, sorry this update took so long. Life is crazy! :D<strong>

**Ok, so here's Chapter 4. Enjoy! Please read'n'review ;)**

**Aaaaannnd...begin!**

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><p>The snake struck, blurring into a flash of orange as it tried to sink its fangs into Kagome's shoulder. She dodged aside and fired an arrow, which pierced the creature's open mouth. It gave a dying scream-hiss and exploded in a flash of light. She whirled around to face the next attacker, panting slightly. Inuyasha was fighting somewhere to her right, she could sense his aura burning with battle-fever. She glanced his way and saw him swing Tetsusaiga at one demon while another approached from the side.<p>

"On your left!" Kagome shouted, racing forward. She fired an arrow that glanced off the scales of the snake Inuyasha was fighting and caused it to turn her way. Inuyasha whirled and began fighting the other one.

Swinging her bow around, she smacked the giant demon between the eyes as it lunged for her. Violet light burst into being and the creature hissed in pain, then dissolved as it was purified.

"Got it!" Inuyasha yelled, and she turned to see him standing among the shredded remains of another snake. The bodies of the red-eyed _yokai_ littered the ground around the half-demon and _miko_.

"That was odd," Kagome mused and she swung her bow back over her shoulder. "I'm positive this isn't their territory; in fact, I've never even seen _yokai _like that. I wonder why they attacked."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Does it matter? They're dead now." Too true: the only one left alive was a small, shivering huddle of creamy tan robes and cherry red skin attempting to hide behind a bush much too small for such a purpose.

"Spark," Kagome called kindly, "You can come out now."

"No, no, no," the little demon muttered, shaking so hard he rattled the bushes. "Spark is fine right here."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he sheathed Tetsusaiga. "I'm seriously sick of this guy," he muttered, cracking his knuckles. His glare made Spark squeak pathetically and cower even more.

"Inuyasha," Kagome reprimanded gently.

"What?" He looked at her, exasperated.

"Why don't you let me handle this?" she sighed. He gave a derisive, "Keh", but nodded his head toward the little demon as if to say, _Get on with it then. _She gave him a glare to match his own.

"It's okay, Spark," Kagome said soothingly, kneeling down in front of the lizard-like creature. "We just want to talk, okay? Didn't you say you were sent here to talk?" It took every ounce of self control she possessed not to wring her daughter's location out of him. She felt Inuyasha practically vibrating with tension beside her and mentally willed him to keep his cool.

"Y-yes," the _yokai_ stammered. "M-mistress sent me to tell you about lost girl. You are looking for girl, yes?"

"Yes," Inuyasha snapped, shifting his grip on Tetsusaiga. He glared down at the smaller creature and growled threateningly, encouraging Spark to hurry up and hand over the information.

"Mistress says you shouldn't look," Spark squeaked, scuttling backward. "She says curse will be the end of you if you find her. End of all of you."

Inuyasha and Kagome both froze. "Curse?" he demanded, taking a menacing step forward. "What curse?" He felt Kagome stand beside him and gently place a hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to proceed cautiously.

"The c-curse," Spark babbled, now thoroughly spooked. "The curse Mistress Ryuukisaki put on her. Bad curse, very bad…" He switched into the alien, hissing language and Inuyasha could get no more sense out of his words. He heard blood rushing in his ears and felt rage building in his chest. Kagome's grip on his shoulder tightened, but not in a warning way; she too was furious at the thought of some demon stealing their daughter away and placing a curse on her.

"Who's Ryuukisaki and _what curse_?" Inuyasha shouted, leaning down toward the little _yokai _menacingly.

"Why did she take Akira?" Kagome added, her pitch and tone rising as her anger got the better of her.

Spark nearly expired from fright right there. He gazed up at them with huge, terrified eyes and managed to choke out, "The c-curse was v-vengeance, and she took lost girl far away, so vengeance can last longer, mistress said. M-mistress is Ryuukisaki, mother of Ryukotsusei, greatest of her people. She is the Dragon Queen." And he fainted dead away.

xXx

Akira sat at the edge of the pool with her bare feet in the water, sighing contentedly at the cooling sensation against her sun-warmed skin. The waterfall offered a soothing, pounding rhythm behind her. She tipped her face back and sighed again; for the first time in days, she felt safe and…not quite happy (she thought of her family with a pang), but certainly better than she had when she first arrived at the home cave of the wolf-_yokai _the day before. She decided "comfortable" was an accurate description.

A laugh bubbled up from her belly. _"I never would have guessed I could be _comfortable _with a bunch of wolves,"_ she thought, smiling. _"But they aren't all that bad, especially Ayame. Most of them stay away from me." _This was true. In fact, Akira was sure she'd seen a few of the younger members of the tribe come to check out the water and then decide they had other things to do when they saw her lounging on the rocks. That was fine with her; she wasn't planning on making friends here. The wolves left her alone and she returned the courtesy. _"The only one who's really a pain is-"_

"Oi, _hanyou,_" a drawling voice came from behind and a little above her. She sighed.

"Yes, pup?" she asked, tipping her head back even further so she could look up as Izo, who was crouched on a rock self a few arm-lengths above her. He glowered at the nickname she'd given him and she smiled. Rude and arrogant as he may be, the son of the wolf-_yokai_'s chief sure was fun to annoy.

Izo seemed to debate with himself whether she was worth fighting with right now or not, and decided against it. He simply snorted derisively and jerked his head to indicate the cave behind the waterfall. "Mother and Father want to see you," he muttered. Then he straightened and sprang away up the rocks. She had to admit, his movements were impressively quick.

Sighing, Akira clambered to her feet and followed. She ducked behind the shimmering waterfall that cave entrance in what was becoming a habitual manner. The moment she entered the cave, the gentle noise of many conversations taking place at once stopped. She glanced around at the several dozen _yokai_ that had all turned to watch her, meeting them stare for stare. She set her shoulders and calmed her breath the way her parents and multiple other relations had taught her.

"Sometimes, all you need to do to convince other people you're strong is believe it yourself," Sango had told her once.

"_Believe I'm strong," _she thought as she walked briskly toward the leaders of the wolf-_yokai_, keeping her head high and her back straight. _"Yeah, right."_ Izo was leaning on the rock behind his parents and he glowered at her when she reached the group. She ignored him, addressing his father. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, looking between Kouga and Ayame.

"Yes," Kouga rumbled. He leaned back against the cave wall in a motion that mimicked his son and regarded her lazily. "We-"

"We were just thinking about what you said yesterday," Ayame cut in. Kouga rolled his eyes heavenward but let her talk. "About being on that sabbatical or whatever. And I know you said you didn't want to return home until you'd learned more about survival but I was just thinking that you can't very well just traipse off into the wilderness on your own…"

Akira blanched. _"They're going to send me back," _she thought, terrified. She couldn't go back, not with that damned bracelet on her wrist. She had to think of some way to convince the wolves not to send her home, or worse actually find her parents and bring them… She was opening her mouth, not quite sure what she planned to say when what Ayame was saying actually reached her ears.

"So I thought it would be a great idea if you stayed here for a while," the _yokai-_woman beamed. Her face was open and friendly, with no hint of a hidden motive. She honestly just wanted to help Akira.

The _hanyou_ girl was stunned. "I- you want me to- to stay?" she asked incredulously. The sour look on Izo's face told her that this was certainly not a prank; they were actually offering her a place to stay.

"Of course, you don't have to stay any longer than you want," Ayame said hurriedly, gripping Akira's arms in much the same way her cousin Cho did when she was overly excited. "I just don't want you out there, where you could get killed by all sorts of things, without any proper training or experience. Why don't you stay for just a few more days?"

Akira was reeling. "You won't tell me parents?" she mumbled, only half-conscious that she was speaking at all. This was…well, not ideal, but certainly better than she'd hoped for. Even if she only stayed a few more days, as long as she left the wolves' territory in the opposite direction of her village, their scent could buy her precious time to search for a way to break the fire-woman's curse.

"Not if you don't want us to," Kouga said in answer to her question. "They know you're on your own, right?" Here he narrowed his eyes at her slightly and she felt a pang of guilt. Here they were being much kinder to her than they should have been and she was lying to them. "So they must think you can handle yourself alright. They don't need to know specifically where you are; kind of defeats the purpose of a sabbatical, don't you think?"

She nodded dumbly. She looked at their faces, from expectant to slightly bored to downright hostile, waiting for her to answer. "Alright," she said softly, "but you promise you won't tell anyone that I'm here?"

Ayame smiled kindly and even Kouga's mouth quirked up on one side. "If that's what you want," the older woman said.

Akira felt her shoulders slump forward and she sighed in relief. She'd had no idea how stressed she was from having to fend for herself, and was a little ashamed that the promise of not being on her own relaxed her. "Thank you," she said with as much sincerity as she could muster. She met all three gazes, and only Izo's gave her pause. The ice in his eyes seemed to freeze her from the inside out. Their gazes locked for a moment and she saw the thinly veiled wolf in that pale blue. Then she squared her shoulders and said again, firmly, "Thank you. I'll stay." Izo snorted and stalked away. _"How do you like that, pup?"_

Izo growled with frustration as he marched over to where his friends sat at the mouth of the cave. Both Joudan and Yorokobi looked up at him from their customary joking when they heard him approach the spot. It was a tiny alcove that was shielded both from the spray of the waterfall and the ever-perked ears of the rest of the tribe. Perfect. The _yokai_-boy growled again and punched the rock wall for good measure before slumping to the floor. He glared out at the sheet of rushing water resentfully.

"Well, _someone _is in a bad mood," Yorokobi observed, tossing a pebble at Izo. It bounced off his shoulder and he didn't so much as blink.

"He's always in a bad mood," Joudan replied as if the other boy wasn't there. "But this seems particularly pissed off." He tossed a pebble too, and when that got no response he demanded, "What's up?"

"She's staying," Izo said shortly.

The other two exchanges silent looks of disbelief, then looked back at him expectantly. He sighed and looked at them. "That's it," he said impatiently. "Nothing to explain. They offered her a place to stay. She took it."

Joudan's yellow-green eyes widened and he swore softly. Yorokobi looked from one friend to the other, confused. "But…" he said slowly, "That's not…don't they have to run a big decision like that by the pack?"

"Nah," Joudan said before Izo could. "They're the alphas. What they say goes." He shot Izo a half grin and punched his arm. "Lucky you, right?"

Izo grumbled and shifted away, but his mood was a little lighter. "Well, I guess she is only here for a few more days," he relented. "It can't be that bad. It's not like she'll ever fit in here."

Yorokobi chuckled. "If she even lasts a few days. What do you think the others are gonna do when they find out about her extended visit?"

Joudan and Izo joined in laughing. Maybe the _hanyou _wanted to stay now, but she wouldn't after a day or so of living with angry wolves. As if Yorokobi's words had a catalytic effect, the three friends gradually became aware of the growing rumbling of their packmates. From the odd words and phrases Izo caught, he gathered that the news had been passed around the wolf-_yokai_ that the dog half-demon would be staying with the pack. And they were not happy about it.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," Joudan mumbled, shrinking further into the alcove. Even Izo was a little disturbed by the vehement dislike in the others' voices. Sure he didn't care for the half-breed, but some of them were being downright nasty.

"It's not like they can do anything to her," he said with slightly forced confidence. "She's under the chief's protection."

"Aw, was that concern I heard? How sweet."

Yorokobi yelped and twisted around so fast that he fell flat on his back. Joudan jerked and swore, loudly. Izo shot to his feet and stared at Akira, who was leaning casually against the outcropping of rock that blocked the alcove from the rest of the cave. She had been so quiet, and already she smelled so much like a wolf, that he hadn't even noticed her approach. Now that she was so close however, he could pick up the smell of sunshine and clean fur and human he had begun to associate with the girl under the wolf-scent.

"Hardly concern," he scoffed, trying to cover up his surprise. It was rather hard to do with Yorokobi still struggling to right himself from his sprawled position. "It would look bad for Mother and Father if they couldn't keep you safe from their own pack, that's all."

"Ah," she said, staring at him with those unnerving golden eyes. He fidgeted uncomfortably under her scrutinizing stare and she smirked. He scowled, but before he could say something cutting she turned away from him. "Hello," she said, addressing Joudan and Yorokobi. They blinked up at her, startled. "I don't think we've met properly," she said with perfect politeness. Giving a small bow, she continued, "I'm Akira. Pleased to meet you."

The boys were so taken aback that they mumbled their own introductions quite on reflex. Akira smiled and Izo felt his face flush angrily. Stupid, upstart _hanyou_. "What are you doing here?" he demanded belligerently, crossing his arms over his chest.

Akira looked at him, completely unaffected by his tone. "Now, do you mean 'here' as in this lovely little cave within a cave, or 'here' in general?"

He glared at her, silent. She knew what he meant.

When his response was not forthcoming, she sighed and crossed her arms as well, looking out at the waterfall. "If you must know, I heard what the others were saying and got a little nervous. I saw you come over here and decided that the enemy I know is better than the one I don't, so here I am." She looked back to him and raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

For a moment, Izo couldn't help noticing that she was exceptionally pretty. Perhaps his guard was down because she had so willingly admitted to being nervous around the rest of the tribe, but for some reason he thought he saw a spark of desperation in her eyes. _"Oh, no, not this one," _an inner voice warned. _"Focus. Don't let her charm you. She's only a half-demon."_ He blinked and the expression was gone, replaced by her usual bland cynicism.

"No, no problem," he said with false joviality. Giving her a blinding grin, he added, "I'm sure you won't be with us long, half-breed, so there's no problem at all."

Akira fisted one hand in the hem of her dirty and torn kimono. Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't. Call. Me. That." she ground out

"Hey, hey, everybody just calm down," Yorokobi jumped in, stretching his hands out imploringly between the boy and girl. Neither paid him any attention, though Izo felt a flicker of guilt when he saw how nervous he was making his friends.

Akira must have noticed too. She blinked like she was trying to focus and glanced at the two boys still on the ground. To Izo's surprise, she dropped her head, unclenched her fists, and muttered, "Just watch yourself, pup." Then she turned to go.

Her path was blocked by a dozen or so large, feral, four-legged wolves. They stood between her and the waterfall, having moved there during the conversation without anyone noticing. They were still and silent as statues.

"Oh…" Akira said softly, and her voice shook just a little. In fact, Izo was not entirely sure he hadn't imagined the tremor. A vindictive sort of pleasure filled him as he watched the girl's back stiffen nervously and he was sure her eyes were darting around for a quick escape. "Um…please move?" she tried.

The wolves stared at her. By now, a good portion of those inside the cave were watching the spectacle; Izo could tell by the sudden silence. He felt Yorokobi and Joudan approach on either side of him.

"Should we do something?" Joudan whispered.

Izo thought about it. The wolves were as much a part of the pack as the _yokai_; they may have picked up on all the hostility toward Akira and decided to attack her. But the way they were behaving was odd. He took a hesitant step forward. Sure, he didn't much like her, but he didn't exactly want her torn to shreds. Before he could do anything, Akira's voice rang out, much stronger than before.

"Look, I get that you don't like me very much, but all I really want to do is just get out of here for a few minutes so will you please _get the fuck out of my way_?" she demanded, planting her fists on her hips.

Izo's eyes widened. Wolves responded one of two ways to a show of strength; either they took it as a challenge and attacked, or they respected the strength and acknowledge their combatant as alpha. Did this girl have a death wish?

Then, to his utter bewilderment, a huge gray male, the strongest and boldest of the wolves, took three steps toward Akira, looked up into her face, and lowered himself to the ground submissively. One by one, the others followed suit. A collective murmur from the two-legged wolves broke the silence in the cave.

Akira stared at the wolf that bowed at her feet, unsure what to do. She knew enough about body language to realize that this creature was recognizing her dominance, and her right to be included in the pack, but she didn't know how to respond. Slowly, she knelt in front of him, cupping his face in her hands. The ruff on his neck had a soft undercoat that felt wonderful against her fingertips. He looked up at her with amber eyes.

"Thank you," she murmured, low enough that the watching _yokai_ wouldn't hear. He beat his tail on the ground, then suddenly lunged forward and licked her face. She laughed, surprised, and fell back.

"Well, what do you know," Izo said behind her, and she turned to look at him. He was regarding her with the most thoughtful expression she had ever seen on his face, his two friends openly gaping at her. A small, very small, smile quirked the ice-eyed boy's mouth. "Maybe she's not totally a lost cause after all."

xXx

Kagome and Inuyasha stared at each other over the small demon's head.

"Ryuukisaki?" Kagome breathed. "I don't know…I've never heard of her."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Me either. But if she's Ryukotsusei's mother, and this curse she put on Akira was for vengeance…" His grip on Tetsusaiga's hilt tightened convulsively.

"Yes, yes," Spark gibbered, looking back and forth between them frantically. "Mistress give curse, pretty bracelet, so enemies will know her pain. Will know how it feels to lose their child, she said. But it hasn't worked yet, oh no. Mistress wants a big finish, so she's waiting, yes."

Kagome felt a sick, yawning feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Lose a child?" she whispered, swaying slightly. Strong arms came around her shoulders, holding her up. She tipped her head back and met her husband's golden eyes.

"He said it hasn't worked yet," Inuyasha said fiercely. "We still have time."

Determination swelled up in her chest, swamping out the sickening despair. "Right!"


	5. Dog in Wolf's Clothing

**Dog in Wolf's Clothing**

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><p>A chill breeze blew in from the mountains, making a half-demon girl with black hair and golden eyes shiver in her worn kimono.<p>

"I really need to get some new clothes," Akira grumbled to herself, hunching her shoulders against the wind. "Preferably _before_ winter gets here." She turned and looked back at the glittering waterfall and the sentries posted along the cliff-face. Really, except for the occasional mountain wind, the valley that the tribe of wolf-_yokai_ had made their home was a little paradise. It was only in the past day or so that it's started to get too cold to enjoy the pool at the base of the falls.

A prickle started at the base of her neck and she knew she was being watched. Her gaze snapped to the sentries. They glared back. She sighed. It had been two days since the leaders of the wolves, Kouga and Ayame, had told Akira she could stay with the pack for an indefinite amount of time and still she could feel the hostility around her. She could smell it. It didn't seem to make a difference that a few weeks ago the strongest of the four-legged wolves, who were the demons' minions of a sort, had accepted her. It was the ones with two legs that made her worry.

"I'm going for a walk!" she called up to the wolf on watch, waving. She knew he didn't really care, but it was customary to let the pack know when one was leaving and why. There were a lot of customs held dear by the wolf-_yokai_; in fact, Akira's head was spinning with all the knowledge Ayame had tried to impart to her in a very small amount of time. A long walk was just what she needed to clear her mind. The next instant, she was racing away, springing from rock to rock until she neared the top of the waterfall. The day before, she had discovered a narrow crevice leading further into the mountains and she wanted to explore it.

"_I guess there is something to be said for being small," _she thought as she slipped inside. It was dark and cramped for a long while, then suddenly the gap widened and let in streams of sunlight. Akira blinked in the sudden glare and shaded her eyes with her hand.

She appeared to be in a ravine that rose up for a good ten body-lengths or so above her head. She looked around and saw that ahead of her the rocks on the left-hand wall had crumbled into a sort of stairway. At the top of this "stairway" was a dark slash in the rock that she assumed was a cavern entrance.

"_It makes sense," _she thought, _"There must be dozens of cave systems in these mountains."_ She was gripped with a sudden shiver, very different from the one inspired by the cool mountain air. She recognized the feeling; a hostile aura was near. It was true that she didn't have her mother's or younger brother's spiritual aptitude, but she did posses some power. Enough to know that something was in that cave, and whatever it was she had no interest in meeting it.

"_I have to get out of here." _Akira turned and made to climb back into the crevice.

It was gone.

"What the-" Behind her was a wall of solid rock, as if the tiny tunnel she had traveled through had never existed. She slapped her hand against the wall, wondering if it was some kind of illusion. Judging by the stinging pain this action caused, it wasn't. "This is impossible," she whispered, whirling around again. She frantically scented the air, hoping to catch a whiff of the home cave and that would tell her which direction to go in. All she could smell was rock and something dark and festering. Something rotten. She couldn't even hear the waterfall.

"Impossible," she said again, starting to run. The shivering, prickly feeling was growing stronger. "I can't have gone too far," she panted. Her surroundings flashed by in a blur, then suddenly an immense wall of rock was looming up in front of her. She skidded to a halt, looking around wildly. She _knew_ the ravine had been open ahead of her when she first arrived, but now she was closed in. Even the sides of the crevice seemed to be closer than before. The stone was too sheer to climb and too high to jump everywhere except…

Akira heard a scuttling sound and the clattering of falling rocks. She turned and faced a spider the size of three huts put together with a cluster of a dozen scorpion stingers on its back. It was scrambling from the mouth of the cave and down the fallen-rock stairs, the only way in or out of the ravine. Its eyes glittered maliciously and its horrible pincers snapped open and shut.

"Fuck," Akira whispered, backing into the wall. Desperately, she tried to remember everything she'd ever been taught about fighting insectile _yokai_. Her Aunt Sango had said that nine times out of ten they were really very weak and just looked scary because of their size. And they were not too bright. But then, there was always that one out of ten…

"_Maybe I can confuse it," _she thought as the thing came toward her, hissing and clattering. _"If I'm fast enough, I can dodge around it and…" _And what? There was nowhere to run to. But no time to worry about that.

The spider-_yokai_ lunged forward, screeching horribly. The sound grated against Akira's sensitive ears and she flattened them to her skull. Darting left, she just missed becoming the demon's lunch as it crashed into the wall behind her. It shrieked again angrily and tried to turn to face her. But that was where the tiny space and Akira's speed worked to her advantage. It couldn't move fast enough to corner her, so she leapt up and landed on its back, using the creature as a launching point to jump to the top of the ravine.

She sailed upward, confident she could reach the edge of the wall. Something grabbed her ankle, painfully, dragging her back to earth. She hit the ground with a _thud _and stars burst in her vision.

The spider loomed over her, its rotten stench filling her nose. Her ankle throbbed where its pincers had grabbed her and her vision flickered at the edges. She caught a blur of motion from the demon's back and rolled to the side, once again missing death by a hair's breadth. The tail retracted again, stinger dripping poison, and another one struck. Akira kept rolling and dodging, and the tails kept striking one after the other, pummeling the rock of the ravine floor to gravel.

She couldn't keep this up forever. Already she had been grazed twice by the tails and could feel poison twisting through her veins. Not enough to kill her (she hoped), but enough to slow her down. It was only a matter of time before the thing got lucky, or she got lazy, and that would be the end of Akira. Pinned down, trapped by the monster's huge body and far too many legs, all of her most reliable weapons had been taken away. All except…

"_No," _a tiny part of her whispered, _"I can't."_ Nothing could make her do that, _become_ that. She would rather die.

A flash of movement above her.

Stinging pain in her right shoulder.

The steady burn of poison spreading through her veins.

Pain engulfed her, her body was paralyzed. Her vision flickered, went black, and then… The spider backed up rapidly, the overwhelming demonic aura now engulfing the half-demon making its instincts scream to retreat.

Akira's wrist burned and itched where the bracelet touched her skin, but that was the only pain she felt. The sluggish progress of the poison traveling through her body had been numbed, the pain from her myriad of cuts and bruises and the stab wound to her shoulder blocked from her mind. Her vision was much clearer than it had been moments before, but now everything was tinted red. Blood red. She leaped to her feet, hands raised, claws extended to an unnatural length. A growl tore from her, building in her chest and ripping up out of her throat.

"You," she snarled at the creature. Her voice was rough and growling, like a wild animal that had somehow managed to form words. She looked up at the _yokai _through the curtain of red that tinted her sight and smiled cruelly. "Die!" She sprang.

Her claws ripped into the demon's back, shredding easily through the rock-like armor. She effortlessly dodged the flailing tails and snapping pincers, landing behind the creature and spinning to face it once again. The smell of blood filled her nose, hot and coppery, an addictive scent. She laughed, a sound that was at once both growling and high-pitched with madness. She attacked again, leaping forward with her claws outstretched. For the briefest moment, she saw herself reflected in the _yokai's _many black eyes. Protruding fangs, blood-splattered claws, glowing red eyes… It was barely a glimpse, but it was enough.

"_No_!" she shouted, aloud and in her mind. Her lunge staggered in midair and she dropped, dealing a glancing blow to the spider-thing's side. As she hit the ground her pains all rushed back at once and the burning red veil lifted from her eyes. Her injured ankle twisted under her weight and she fell with a cry, smacking her head on the hard stone of the ravine floor.

_The centipede-demon scuttled from the woods, heading right for Akira and her younger brother. The ten-year-old girl was already covered in the thing's blood, her hands reeked of it, but still it attacked. Toshi was huddled by the well, wailing for their parents, for Ryoku. Akira wanted to wail too, but she had no strength left. Her vision flickered in and out, the slash on her ribs stung painfully, and her limbs shook with the effort of holding her up. And still it came._

_The _yokai _reared back, letting out a hissing shriek. Its long body came around and trapped Akira in its coils, choking, squeezing. She gasped for air, bright spots dancing at the corners of her eyes. _"If only I were like Ryoku," _she thought with surprising clarity. _"If only I could fight." _The _yokai_ squeezed harder and the half-demon cried out as she felt her ribs creak and distinctly heard the sharp _crack_ of breaking bone._

"_Sis! SIS!" Toshi was screaming, but the noise seemed to come from far away._

"_I'm sorry," she tried to say, but it was as though her mind no longer had control of her body. She felt like her spirit was floating away. She wanted to yell at the young boy to run, to get to safety while he could, but she was unable to._

_The demon let out another horrible hissing-clacking noise that Akira could have sworn was laughter. Rage burned in her stomach. If there was one thing she _hated_, it was being laughed at. Suddenly, she felt stronger, and her pain seemed to fade away. Her vision went dark, then returned with suddenly clarity, hazed red. She growled and concentrated, pushing against the demon's coils. With a surprised shriek, the creature wheeled away as the lower half of its body was torn to shreds by claws…and powerful demonic aura._

_Akira stood in the middle of the carnage, a twisted smile showing off long, gleaming fangs. "Who's laughing now?" she growled, and attacked._

Izo bounded over the rocks, cursing Akira under his breath. Why had the stupid _hanyou _left the cave? Why had the guard _let_ her? Why hadn't he at least warned her about the attacks… _"Why do I care!"_ he thought as he flashed from one foothold to another, not paying attention to anything except following the girl's scent. Of course, she _would _go to the one place where it would be hardest to find her and protect her. If he was lucky the demon would be sleeping-

A pained cry ripped through the air, followed by a scuttling noise and a clacking hiss.

Izo sighed. Apparently, he wasn't lucky.

He vaulted over the ravine. He'd known exactly where to go having pulled a similar stunt when he was a pup, but he conveniently forgot that fact as he cursed Akira's stupidity. Below, he saw the spider-demon rearing back to strike. At its many feet lay an unconscious and bleeding Akira.

"Damnit," Izo grumbled as he dropped onto the insectile _yokai'_s back. He drove his foot into the chink in its rock-hard armor between its head and body segments, making the creature shriek with rage and pain. He leapt off a second later, using the demon's back to launch himself up to the other side of the ravine.

"Izo!" The voices of his friends floated over from the other side of the crevice, making him glance over. Joudan and Yorokobi stood across the divide, panting and bent nearly double.

"Took you long enough!" he called as below the spider demon wailed with frustration while it tried to scale the sheer stone wall. He was barely conscious of his friend's protests that he had left them behind when one of the _yokai_'s flailing tails drove into the ground inches away from Akira's head. Judging from the amount of blood already spattered on the girl's clothes and the ground around her, she'd already been hit too many times. Snapping upright, Izo channeled the alpha his parents were always telling him to be and called, "Yorokobi, get Akira out of here. Joudan, let's hunt!"

In a single motion, all three boys launched themselves down into the ravine. Joudan and Izo aimed for the _yokai_, slashing at its sensitive eyes and underbelly with their claws. Yorokobi landed lightly beside Akira, who he gathered up in his arms and sprinted away with, running back through the crevice to get out of range of the combatants.

Izo mentally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were out of danger. Now that the demon was distracted, its control over the surrounding rocky landscape should have slipped enough for the tunnel that Akira must have used, and he himself had used as a pup, to open again. If Yorokobi could get through, they'd be safe.

A stinger-tipped tail flashed toward him with lightning speed and he dodged, swinging himself around under the demon's flailing limbs and delivering a blow to the joint where one of its many legs connected to its bloated body. There was a sickening _crack _and the _yokai_ let out a shrill scream, its leg now hanging uselessly.

"Izo, get out of there!" Joudan shouted as he took out a leg of his own. The _yokai_ wobbled unsteadily and Izo saw his danger. He darted through the maze of legs and into the open just as the spider-scorpion collapsed, sending a shockwave over the ground. Rocks clattered down the cliff sides and the ground underneath the _yokai's_ heavy body cracked into gravel.

"Hey!"

Both Izo and Joudan looked around and up to see more members of the pack fast approaching along the edge of the cliff_. "The guard must have sent some backup,"_ Izo thought. He gritted his teeth; so no one had bothered to come for the _hanyou, _but an entire patrol had come for him and his friends? He didn't know why it bothered him so much, but it did.

"We can take it from here," the wolf-_yokai_ in the lead shouted, leaping down into the ravine.

Izo, already high on battle fever and made even angrier by his fellows' disinterest in Akira's safety, opened his mouth to snap that they didn't need any help, but the wolf's next words stopped him.

"You might want to help your friend with the half-breed. She looks pretty bad."

Izo and Joudan glanced at each other, then without another word they raced off after Yorokobi and Akira.

xXx

"Is this really the right way?" Inuyasha asked, exasperated, as he leaped over a swiftly flowing stream and paused to sniff the air.

Kagome sighed. "I still can't pick up any strong aura, but Spark says this is right."

"Yes, yes," the small _yokai _snapped impatiently. "Mistress lives two days and two nights run far far away from the forest. We must keep going, keep going." He was perched on Kagome's shoulder, clinging to her hair to keep steady, while Kagome herself was being carried piggy-back style by Inuyasha; the three of them made and odd sort of mobile human tower.

"_Well, human, half-demon, and demon tower," _Kagome thought to herself with a small smile.

"Keh. If you're leading us the wrong way, little idiot…" Inuyasha growled, letting the sentence trail off threateningly. Spark squeaked and clutched Kagome's hair tighter, making her wince.

It was odd that the little creature who claimed to serve Akira's kidnapper was helping them, but then again, Kagome wasn't sure if he was smart enough to realize that was what he was doing. After yammering on uselessly about the curse Ryuukisaki had placed on Akira, he had muttered something about his mistress wanting to meet Inuyasha and Kagome before the curse took effect. Inuyasha had immediately taken this as some sort of challenge and, though she suspected a trap, Kagome couldn't help but agree. They had managed to wheedle, cajole, and threaten Spark into taking them to Ryuukisaki. Although now, almost two days later, she was beginning to doubt Spark's capabilities.

"So this curse," she said, addressing the small demon in yet another attempt to try to get some sense out of him. "What exactly is its purpose?"

"Vengeance," Spark muttered darkly.

"Yes, you've said that," Kagome sighed, trying to control her impatience. "I mean, what does it _do_?" It had to be the millionth time she'd asked, so she didn't blame Inuyasha for snorting derisively as she did.

Spark blinked his bright green eyes at her and said, as though talking to a small child, "Don't know."

Kagome rolled her eyes skyward. "Of course you don't." She felt Inuyasha's shoulders tense and unconsciously reached up to stroke his ears in the most soothing gesture she could manage. His ears flickered in agitation and he grunted, but she felt him relax slightly anyway.

As Kagome continued her rather pointless interrogation of Spark, Inuyasha picked up the pace, running faster and faster until he was practically flying over the ground. In an odd way, he was almost glad the stupid little _yokai_ was with them; the irritation he provided gave him energy. Suddenly, an all-too familiar smell of brimstone and scale hit his nose, making him veer sharply to the right toward a hill that created a waterfall of the stream they'd just crossed. _When attacked, get to high ground_.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, startled. He could tell by the sound of her voice that she hadn't picked up any unusual aura and briefly wondered what it was about this Ryuukisaki that seemed to block his wife's powers.

But all he said was, "We've got company," as a monstrous snake burst out of the ground to their left in a spray of earth and stone.

Kagome swore under her breath and Inuyasha drew his sword. "Put up a barrier, I can take care of this," he said as she slid off his back. They hadn't made it to the hill, but it was just behind them.

"No." He didn't have to turn around to know that she was wearing that stubborn expression that somehow made him want to kiss her and shake some sense into her at the same time. As the snake lunged toward them he felt her familiar presence by his side as she notched an arrow and said, "We fight together."

Inuyasha swung and sliced across the snake's face as another one burst out of the ground on their other side. This one exploded in a burst of light as Kagome's arrow pierced its gaping maw. He looked at the _miko_ who fought beside him, the air around her crackling with power, and gave her a grudging grin. "Just like old times, huh?"

She grinned back and fired another arrow over his shoulder. He heard the wail of the dying _yokai_ it struck. "Yeah," she agreed when she ducked and he stabbed the giant snake-demon that had been striking at her. "Just like old times."

xXx

"Akira? Hey, wake up... Come on, wake up. Wake up, Akira... Akira!"

"Hmmm, wha-?" Akira mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. Someone was calling her, but she was so tired and her whole body hurt. She just wanted to lie still and sleep.

"Oh, no you don't," the voice said. She felt someone shaking her shoulders and feebly tried to push them away. Her hands met with a solidly muscled chest and somehow she couldn't force them to push, so she just sort of left them there.

"Let me sleep," she begged, still with her eyes closed. In her half-drunk, poison-induced, semi-comatose state, she thought she was ten years old again after the first time her demon blood had overpowered her human heart. She thought the boy leaning over her was her older brother, and she couldn't bear to see the disappointment she knew would be on his face. "Please," she whispered as hot tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "Just let me…sleep."

"No chance," the voice said gruffly, and she groggily realized it wasn't Ryoku. With this thought, memory slowly began to return to her. "We think the poison is out of your system, but if you fall asleep the herbs we used to cleanse your wounds won't work properly. They need to move through your system. You need to get up. Come _on_, Akira!"

With a great amount of effort, she opened her eyes. "Izo," she sighed when the first thing she saw was his face leaning over hers, scowling as usual. But this scowl looked different than the expression of pure annoyance she was used to, almost…anxious. Was he worried about her? For some reason, the thought made her stomach clench in a way that wasn't entirely disagreeable.

"Good," he breathed, and for a moment relief flickered in his icy eyes. Then it was gone as quickly as it had come. "Stupid _hanyo_," he muttered, glowering at her. "You need to be more careful! You almost got yourself killed!"

Akira opened her mouth to snap out a reply, but her brain was too tired to supply one. Instead she sighed and rolled her eyes. "And here I was thinking it was so nice you were actually using my name," she muttered. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt heat rise to her cheeks and silently cursed the spider-_yokai_'s poison. _"It must have messed with my head,_" she told herself.

Because he was still leaning over her, Akira could actually observe the progress of the faint blush that crept up Izo's neck to his face. Well, at least she wasn't the only one. He mumbled, "Whatever. It's not a big deal," while his eyes flicked uncomfortably to the left.

Despite the lovely opportunity to mock him this provided, Akira took pity on the _yokai_-boy. "Yeah, whatever," she agreed, brushing away the awkward silence. "So what happened after I was done being a stupid _hanyo_?" she asked lightly, moving to sit up.

It was only then that both she and Izo seemed to realize how closely he was leaning over her, and that her hands were still resting against his bare chest.

The boy's blush and scowl returned full force and he snapped upright, jerking away from her as though she carried a fatal disease. Akira now felt wide awake, and she snapped into a sitting position herself, pressing her back against the wall of the cave from which the rocky outcrop she had been resting on was protruding. Now that her senses were fully aware, she knew she was back in the home cave and that she had been lying in the place Ayame had told her often served as a resting place for wolves that were injured. She knew her wounds had been cared for by the scent of herbs that lingered on her own body and that someone must have killed the demon that had attacked her, because there was an air of celebration in the cave beyond them.

She knew all that, and yet the only thing she really seemed to see was the flash of relief in Izo's eyes, the only thing she smelled was the wind-water-wolf scent of him. She was entirely used to it by now; in fact she almost…liked it.

But there was _no way_ she would ever let him know that. "Do you ever wear clothes?" she snapped to distract herself, gesturing toward his bare torso.

He glared at her. "My armor got dented while I was saving your ass," he said pointedly.

She blinked. "You saved me?" She didn't remember anything after she'd lost her head and blacked out.

Izo made a noise of supreme irritation and filled her in on what had happened as quickly as he could. He explained how, after he and Joudan had gone after her and Yorokobi, the patrol the guard had sent had finished off the spider-demon. Apparently it was a big deal; the _yokai_ and its kin had been attacking stray wolves for years, but the one Akira had fought had been the queen. Without her, the others would now either die out or move on.

"_I guess that's two queens I've managed to seriously piss off," _Akira thought as Izo talked. The fire-woman had hinted as to her station among _yokai_, and Akira couldn't think of a logical reason why she would be lying. _"At least I don't have to worry about one of them anymore." _An insane urge to giggle gripped her but she managed to hold it in check. "Well…thanks," she mumbled when Izo fell silent. "For, you know…saving my life…and stuff."

If may have been the after-effects of the poison, but she swore she saw the boy's mouth twitch up into almost a smile. Not a smirk, a real smile. But he only said, "Don't mention it," gruffly as he stood to leave.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!" At that moment, Ayame seemed to materialize by her son's side. Her eyes were wide and concerned as she looked from Izo to Akira. "Kouga and I were out with a patrol and when we got back Haru said there was an attack and I was so _worried_!"As she spoke (in a way that made Akira think of her mother firing arrow after arrow with astounding speed), she checked Izo all over for any injuries, then turned her attention to Akira.

"I'm fine, Ayame-sama," Akira assured her, smiling. It was mostly true; she still felt a bit dizzy, but she knew she would recover from the blood loss soon enough.

"Just Ayame," the older woman corrected, as she had every time Akira had addressed her for the past week. "And you were unconscious, missy, so obviously you are _not_ fine."

"Yeah, for all that talk you have you sure needed a lot of help," Izo piped up, smirking once again. Akira glared at him. Apparently she _had_ been hallucinating from the poison. He was as obnoxious as ever.

"I was doing fine on my own," she said hotly, "I just-" she stopped herself before she said anymore and gave herself away. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned away from the two wolf-demons and glared at the wall.

Izo watched Akira's face flush and her eyes flash angrily, but before she turned from him he saw the anger replaced with something like guilt. Guilt and shame. But that didn't make any sense, just as the few tears she'd shed while still mostly unconscious hadn't made sense either.

Before he could ponder this further, Akira's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "You're right," she said, looking back at them. "I _did_ need help. I don't like it, but it's true." Her jaw was clenched and Izo saw how much it was costing her to admit this. Her gaze went from him to his mother, burning with intensity. He felt a lurch in his stomach that he quickly dismissed.

"I want to learn to fight," Akira said to Ayame.

There was a moment of silence where Izo and his mother looked at each other. _"Uh oh," _he thought when he saw the spark of determination in her eyes.

"Very well," she said, facing the young half-demon again. Akira looked slightly startled at first, as though she hadn't expected her request to be granted, then she beamed. Ayame smiled back at her, then turned her smile on her son.

"_Oh shit_," he thought, suspicion dawning. _"I'm not gonna like this…"_

"Izo will be your teacher."

"_Yep." _He felt Akira's stare boring a hole in him and met her glare with his own. _"I really don't like this."_

xXx

Kagome fired her last arrow at the last snake-demon. It stuck in its eye and the creature shrieked in pain and rage.

"_Kaze no Kizu_," Inuyasha said, swinging Tetsusaiga. And with that their enemies were defeated.

Kagome flicked her hair off her face and drew in a breath. "That was…too easy," she decided, looking at her husband.

He grunted an agreement. "Something's not right…" he muttered, eyes darting around watchfully. "Oi, where's the pest?" he asked suddenly.

Kagome started when she realized she had lost track of Spark in the fighting. "Spark?" she called, gripping her bow anxiously. A clump of tall grass several yards away from her quivered and she walked toward it. "It's fine, Spark," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "You can come out-"

Inuyasha whirled around, eyes widening as a hidden scent was suddenly revealed. "Kagome!" he shouted in warning. Too late. The _miko_ cried out in surprise and fell back as the largest snake yet burst out of the grass. It was like a magician's trick; it should have been impossible for such a huge body to conceal itself there, even underground, but it just kept coming.

There was no hesitation as Inuyasha attack. Almost before his mind had fully registered that Kagome was in danger, he was moving, sword a deadly blur at his side. He leaped in front of his wife and slashed at the lunging serpent. It hissed and recoiled, blood leaking sluggishly from the eye he had stabbed. "Back off, worm!" Inuyasha growled. He felt Kagome climb to her feet behind him and notch an arrow.

Then, to both of their utter surprise, the _yokai_ let out a strange, faltering hiss that was unmistakably…laughter.

"Fools," it spat, its good eye glinting with a fiery light. "You cannot defeat us. Our mistress has many, many servants. You cannot hope to slay us all." It laughed again.

Kagome was shocked. Never before had these _yokai_ spoken; she had assumed they _couldn't_ speak, like many of the lower demon classes. But obviously they could, or perhaps this snake was of a higher class than the others. It was certainly bigger than three of the others combined.

She saw her husband's back tense and imagined she could hear his teeth grinding as he clenched his jaw. A low growl rumbled up from his chest. "Inuyasha," she said softly, a warning to be cautious.

"I know," he growled, taking one step back so they stood side by side.

"Yes, fight me," the_ yokai_ hissed encouragingly. "Waste more time with me while your precious friends struggle for their lives."

Kagome felt her heart stutter and beside her Inuyasha let out a startled, "What-?" seemingly before he could stop himself.

The snake laughed again, weaving its massive head back and forth before them as though trying to hypnotize them. But before it could say anything else, a small figure scuttled out in front of it and raised thin arms in a pleading sort of gesture, gabbling away in a hissing, spitting language that neither _hanyo _nor _miko_ could understand.

Eventually, the snake spat something back in the foreign language, then said so Inuyasha and Kagome could understand, "The mistress will hear of this. Be wary, weakling." Then, in a movement so sudden no one had time to react, it plunged back into the earth, disappearing in less than a moment.

Inuyasha turned his frustrations on the small _yokai_. "You," he growled, gripping the front of Spark's robes and shaking him. "What did you say?"

"Sp-Spark say he go with servant back to mistress, bring back information if he let you go," the little demon stammered, eyes wide with terror.

Inuyasha blinked at him, then looked over at Kagome in confusion. She seemed just as surprised as he was. "Why would you do that?" she asked, taking a step closer.

"Keh. And why do you think we'll let you go?" Inuyasha said hostilely, tightening his grip.

Spark squeaked but managed to choke out. "Friends…need help. You…should go. Spark…can help…you. Find out…more…about…curse."

Inuyasha was surprised enough to relax his hold slightly. The demon wanted to help them? And what was all this about their friends being in danger? "Dammit," he growled, shaking his head. "I don't understand any of this."

"Why are you helping us, Spark?" Kagome asked cautiously, laying a gentle hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. He looked at her and read the message in her eyes. Nodding once, he released his captive.

Spark squeaked out, "Half-demon scary, but not as scary as mistress. P-priestess lady nice to Spark. Spark wants to help." He looked up at them with big, sincere eyes.

Inuyasha exchanged a glance that spoke volumes. The _hanyo_'s golden eyes asked, _"Should we trust him?"_ The _miko_'s blue ones replied: _"Do we have a choice?"_

Inuyasha grumbled to himself, worry for Miroku and Sango and the others already growing in his chest. Kagome knelt to Spark's level and said, "Thank you." She patted his head once, then stood and faced her husband.

"Let's go see if there are any more _yokai_ that need slaying," she said determinedly, eyes glinting.

Inuyasha nodded, jaw tight. As Kagome climbed on his back and they raced away, he couldn't help the feeling that said they were walking into a trap. But she had been right. Did they really have a choice?

xXx

"_Ooomph_!" Akira felt her breath forcefully pushed out of her body as she went sprawling for what felt like the millionth time. For an instant she simple laid on her back, dazed. Then she pushed herself to her feet, a soft groan the only sign she gave of her aching muscles and sore bruises. Her new clothes felt strange against her body; the furry black skirt smelled of wolf and her gray breastplate (with a red strip across the top, like Ayame's) contracted oddly around her upper body. The alpha female had assured her she would get used to the wolf armor, but she wasn't so sure. Although she did have to admit it was easier to move in than conventional armor would have been.

"Hey. Focus, Akira."

She glared at Izo and he smirked.

"Again," he said, sinking into a crouch. "You're still thinking too much. Let your instincts fight for you."

Akira bit her lip, a nervous habit. This was nothing like the fighting training she'd observed with her family; that was all about control, practice, and finesse. But that wasn't the way wolves fought. This was wild and explosive, grabbing your prey when an opening was available and refusing to let go. It was brutal, exhausting, fiery, endless…and she loved it.

But that was what scared her. Where did trusting her _hanyou _instincts end and loosing herself to her demon side begin? She wasn't sure and wasn't anxious to find out.

"C'mon, half-demon," Izo taunted. "Attack me."

A low, feral growl rumbled up from Akira's chest. She launched herself at the demon boy, grabbing his shoulders and sending them both to the ground. She was careful to arch away from his claws when he moved his arms up between them; her armor left her stomach bare. Supposedly this offered greater maneuverability. _"I'd rather have armor that I couldn't move in but covered all of me," _she thought as she and her opponent rolled across the smooth stone. Though most of the wolves were out hunting or patrolling, she distinctly heard a snort of amusement as Izo pinned her under his greater weight.

"Dead," he said, not even short of breath. "Again. Damn, how many times do I have to tell you you're too small to attack head on like that? Dodge, _then_ strike."

"Whatever." She was pissed. Mostly because she knew he was right. "I thought you said to let my instincts fight for me." Another snort made her glare at their audience. "Don't you two have anything better to do?" she snapped, glaring at Joudan and Yorokobi, who were watching the training with interest.

Joudan yawned, showing off his fangs. "No. Not really." Yorokobi chuckled.

Akira grumbled and moved to sit up. Izo pushed her back down. He was hovering over her, knees on either side of her waist while his hands pinned her arms over her head. "Ah, ah," he told her, eyes glinting maliciously. "I told you, you're dead. You can't just get up and walk away."

She scowled at him. This playful side of Izo had only seemed to appear once he started kicking her ass on a regular basis. "Fine," she spat, relaxing against the cave floor. "I'm dead. Can you get off me now?" She felt Izo's body relax as hers did.

Izo's customary smirk stole over his face, but before he could say anything she took advantage of his lapse of attention. Snapping her knees up between them, she arched her back and rolled to the side. In less than a breath, their positions were switched. She crouched on his chest, staring down at his stunned face. It was her turn to smirk.

She leaned down, fangs bared, until she was a hair's breadth away from biting his throat. They were pressed so close together, she felt both their hearts thumping in time. Their audience was silent, as though holding their breath.

"Dead," Akira whispered, her breath rushing over the skin of Izo's throat. He swallowed, very aware of how close she was. Then she pulled back and grinned at him. "Beat you," she said, eyes dancing. She leaped off him in a graceful movement, watching as he pushed himself up too.

"Alright," he admitted, running a hand through his hair."That was pretty good." Then he grinned and he saw wariness creep into her expression. It seemed she was getting to know him a bit too well. He stalked toward her. "Now, again."


	6. The Howl

**Hello again, here's chapter six. Hope it's to your liking!**

**My apologies; this update could have been faster but the internet doesn't like me.**

**(And thanks to those who reviewed; glad you enjoy and hope this update was fast enough for you ;))**

**Please r&r. I love your feedback!**

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><p><strong>The Howl<strong>

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><p>"Hey, Akira!"<p>

The half-demon reflexively turned at the sound of her name, then immediately wished she hadn't. "Come _on_, Izo," she groaned as the wolf-demon boy approached her, striding around the pool at the base of the waterfall with the special arrogance only an alpha possessed. "Can't I have a break? We sparred at dawn." She realized she was whining but was too tired and sore to care. She was beginning to truly hate Ayame for giving her to Izo to train.

Izo quirked an eyebrow at her but didn't smirk, which almost made her like him. "I wasn't looking for you for training," he told her impatiently. "Mother thinks you should come back inside. The others will be arriving soon and she and Father want to chance to explain your presence. It's tradition."

Akira let out a breath and rolled her eyes. "You wolves and your traditions," she grumbled as she walked toward him. Then she stopped. "Wait- What others?"

Izo stared at the _hanyo_. It was odd how she had so quickly become a part of his life that he'd forgotten she really was a baby compared to the rest of the pack. "It's the full moon tonight," he told her. "That means all the wolves in our territory will return to the home cave for the Howl."

Akira's eyes widened for a moment and he thought he saw a flash of worry, almost fear. Then the emotion was gone and she asked neutrally, "So, it's a big family gathering? And isn't your pack the only one in the area, who else needs to come that doesn't know I'm here?"

"_Most_ of the pack lives here," he told her, gesturing for her to walk as she listened. They headed back toward the cave entrance behind the waterfall. "There are outliers and half-way loners scattered throughout our territory. And sometimes delegates from other packs show up. A Howl is more than a family gathering; it's a way for all the wolf-_yokai _to stay connected."

"Oh." Akira was surprised. Not only was Izo openly sharing information, he was being…civil. In all honesty, it was freaking her out. But not as much as the reminder that tonight was the full moon. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten. That meant that tomorrow night… But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. "So, do I have to hide in the cave until tomorrow?" she asked dryly, walker quickly to keep up with Izo's longer strides.

The boy growled in an irritated sort of way and she grinned. Maybe her mother would have told her to be kinder, but it was damn _fun_ to annoy him. "You don't have to hide," he snapped. "I just said Father and Mother just have to announce your presence. As a guest of the pack, you are welcome at the Howl." He didn't sound happy about it.

"Well, thank you for your hospitality," she muttered as she followed him into the cave. The moment her feet touched the smooth stone, a huge gray wolf trotted up to her, nuzzling her legs and wagging his tail. A few other four-legged wolves crowded around her, whining in a friendly way and panting happily. Akira felt a rush of gratitude; it felt nice to be welcomed home, even if the home was not her own and the welcome came from wolves.

Izo patted the wolves who sidled up to him absently, apologizing for not having brought them a meal. He watched as the half-demon girl knelt and stroked those who had come to greet her, thanking them and telling them what fine, strong creatures they were. He felt a smile quirk the corner of his mouth.

Akira looked up and saw him watching her. She blushed, inexplicably, and clambered to her feet. "What's with that look?" she muttered, and he realized he was still smiling slightly.

He turned away quickly. "What look? There was no look." Suddenly she was in front of him, stretching up onto her tiptoes to get in his face. He backed away a step on reflex, but she was still so close, her dog-sunshine-human scent that was becoming more tinged with wolf by the day wafting around him

"Admit it," she said suddenly, tone deadly serious. Izo blinked in confusion. He felt suddenly very hot and his pulse seemed to quicken. What did she mean? She leaned even closer, staring into his eyes. Then a playful grin stole across her face and she said, "You don't hate me. I think you even like me a little bit. Admit it."

"_Oh, that's all_," he thought with a sense of relief. Then what she had actually said registered in his brain. He snorted and looked away from her, crossing his arms. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. "You're just a stupid _hanyo_ who's taking up my time"

At this, Akira's smile grew even broader. "Liar," she teased, rocking back onto her heels. He felt suddenly cold without her so near. "I think you like me 'cause you have the most fun when you're kicking my ass. Especially when you can show off for your friends."

"Aha! So you admit to your constant defeats," he said triumphantly. Perhaps it was because she mentioned Joudan and Yorokobi, but it suddenly struck him that the conversation they were having he could have been having with any of his friends. _"Well that's a disturbing thought." _Aloud he said, "Whatever. Just wait 'til someone comes to get you tonight, okay?" then he turned and stalked away.

Akira watched him disappear into the pack, her smile still dancing at the edge of her mouth. Then her good humor faded as the seriousness of her situation seemed to weigh down on her. She bit her lip anxiously, lost in her worries. It was one thing for the pack to (barely) accept a _hanyo_ into their midst. How would they deal with a human girl the night after the full moon?

…

Later, Akira wished she hadn't been introduced to the pack at the Howl. Not because the wolves disliked her, though some were very blunt about their hatred. Oh no, it was because being introduced meant meeting all the members of the pack she had not officially met, and even some she had. Every. Single. One.

She met the outliers and the "half-way loners", as Izo had called them. She met the elders and the pups. She met wolves from other packs passing through the area. They were all different, but one trait they seemed to have in common was their boundless energy and high volume. They were exhausting.

"Ayame-sama," she gasped tiredly as midnight drew near. "There aren't any more, are there?"

Ayame looked at her and chuckled. "No, dear. And just Ayame, please."

Watching a _yokai_ elder in the form of a massive, four-legged wolf lecture a group of young, humanoid pups, Akira asked, "I know most demons can take on a human form even if their true form is very different, but which is which? I can't tell." She nodded at a young female wolf, sprawled across a teenage boy's lap. "Are you wolves or…well, _wolves_."

Ayame gave her a sharp glance, but not an angry one, as though surprised she would ask. "Both," she said eventually.

Before Akira could think of a way to respond to this, she smelled Kouga approaching and sure enough he appeared at his mate's side as though by magic. "It's about to begin," he told her, watching the crowd of wolves and _yokai_. Akira felt an apprehensive shiver run down her spine.

"Alright," Ayame answered. As they walked away she said to Akira, "Oh, and remember that most of these people won't leave for a few days." She grinned and then the alphas disappeared into the throng.

Akira felt her stomach drop. She had thought the next night would be hard enough with just the pack members who normally lived in home cave. Knowing there would be almost twice that many wolves… She shuddered.

Someone jostled her and she was brought violently to the present as she stumbled, pitching toward the floor.

"Whoa," a familiar voice laughed and someone grabbed her arm, hauling her back to her feet. She looked into surprisingly friendly brown eyes. "Careful, half-demon," Yorokobi told her, releasing her arm.

"Thanks," she said automatically. Then she added, "It's Akira," as Joudan appeared at his friend's side. And of course not far behind was Izo. When she took a good look at all of them, she realized that there was something different about them (and all the wolves, now that she thought about it). Their eyes were bright and they seemed to vibrate with suppressed energy. She noticed the crowd was shifting toward the front of the cave as she and the boys were swept up in it.

"What's going on?" she hissed to Izo.

He gave her a look. "It's a Howl. What do you think?"

"Oh." She looked up over the heads of those in front of them and saw the full moon was hanging above the treetops. "So…why do wolves howl at the moon anyway?" she asked, trying to sound interested and not like there was a ball of dread and anticipation curling in her stomach.

None of the boys answered. She looked to her left at Yorokobi and Joudan, then to her right at Izo. Their eyes were brighter than ever, their muscles clenching and unclenching spasmodically. She realized they probably hadn't heard her. Another shiver crept up her back like ice.

Then, without warning, a howl sounded from somewhere at the front of the crowd. It was a wild sound, rising and falling like a mountain wind. Another voice joined the first, then another and another. The howls blended together and soared out of the cave in a savage, beautiful song.

Akira jumped when Joudan let out a howl of his own, his voice nearly deafening because he was so close. Yorokobi and Izo joined him, adding a baritone and tenor to his bass. Looking back and forth between them, she felt suddenly and instinctively afraid. Their fangs were long and gleaming in the moonlight, fully exposed, and there was something in their expressions that was purely predatory. It was terrifying, and (she had to admit) a little bit exhilarating.

Part of her wanted to howl too, to add her voice to the ancient song. But a larger part was realizing, perhaps fully for the first time, just how very different she was from the wolf-demons. And how different she soon would be.

xXx

The moment Inuyasha and Kagome entered the village, the _miko_ knew something was wrong. She knew it instinctively, on a level almost deeper than her spiritual powers allowed. "Inuyasha," she said urgently. "Something isn't right."

The _hanyo_ immediately tensed. "I can't smell anything unusual," he said, eyes flicking around warily. "Is it a _yokai_?"

She shook her head, unconsciously gripping his hand. "No, I don't feel like something is _here_, I feel like something is…missing." Inuyasha squeezed her fingers and she looked up at him. "I don't know," she answered his unspoken question. "It feels like there's something missing from the whole aura of the village. No, that's not right… I can't explain it!" she exclaimed, frustrated.

"We should check it out," Inuyasha decided. "Maybe it has something to do with what that damn snake said."

Kagome made a noise of vague agreement and followed him as he darted between the huts, sniffing the air periodically. He continued holding on to her hand, a silent comfort that she was grateful for but also made her wonder just how concerned her husband was. Suddenly, a familiar aura invaded her thoughts. No, auras.

"They're here," Inuyasha said, not quite able to hide the relief in his voice.

"Sango, Miroku!" Kagome called, dashing forward to meet their friends as they emerged from the hut she shared with her family. "I'm so glad you're safe," she said, beaming at them as Gina and Hikaru emerged as well. They were followed by Ryoku, and only once she saw her eldest son's expression did Kagome question why her family had gathered.

Inuyasha smelled the worry in the air. "What happened?" he asked immediately, not bothering with greetings.

"Mom, Dad," Ryoku said, looking back and forth between them in a way Inuyasha could only describe as helpless.

"Maybe you two should come inside," Miroku said gently, trying to guide Kagome toward the house.

The _miko_ held her ground and Inuyasha felt a flash of pride in his wife and mate. Which was quickly overcome by a jolt of shock when she demanded, "Where's Toshi?"

…

Once Inuyasha learned his youngest child was missing, it took a great deal of effort to keep him in the village. Even after the others convinced him to stay and hear their explanation, he paced around the hut, nervous energy visible in every movement.

"_Not again_,_" _seemed to be the only coherent thought in his mind. _"Not again." _He ground his teeth and clenched his fists.

Kagome quickly recapped her own adventures with Inuyasha when she was asked, then listened with a burning intensity as Miroku explained the situation. Somehow, at the same time, she was detached. It took a great deal of self control not to wrap her arms around her eldest son and never let him go. Her children kept disappearing.

The monk explained to the priestess and her husband that he and Sango had been attacked by snake-like demons, which once they'd been described Kagome identified as Ryuukisaki servants. As had Hikaru, Shippo, Ryoku, and Kohaku. All had been warned that their friends and family were in danger, and returned to the village. Once they'd arrived however (only that morning apparently, just a few hours before Kagome and Inuyasha), they'd discovered that nothing seemed to be amiss. Except for the fact that Cho and Toshi were gone.

"Kohaku and Shippo are out looking for them now," Sango said as her husband finished. She leaned forward and took Kagome's hands in her own, trying to comfort her friend.

"We've been searching in shifts," Ryoku said from his place by the door. "They must have left right after we went to look for Akira. The scent is stale."

"Could Ryuukisaki have taken them as well?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, proud that her voice didn't tremble.

"I don't think so," Inuyasha grumbled. His hand was clenched tight around Tetsusaiga's hilt. "But they must have known that they were gone. Why else would those damn snakes send us back here?"

"Wait, can you explain who this Ryuukisaki is again?" Hikaru interrupted.

"Ryukotsusei was her son," Kagome explained. "Spark, the little demon we told you about, said something about Akira's kidnapping being revenge."

"Because Inuyasha killed her son?" Sango asked. Kagome nodded.

"And she placed a curse on Akira," Miroku mused. "A demon of her power and resources…I wonder what it could be?" He didn't sound optimistic.

Kagome blanched and Sango thumped her husband on the back of the head. "Have some tact," she hissed when the monk winced and gave her a doleful look.

Ryoku and Inuyasha suddenly straightened, ears high and alert. "What is it?" Kagome asked, wondering what else could go wrong.

Her son and husband relaxed slightly as they identified the scent. "Shippo and Kohaku are back," Ryoku explained, giving her a reassuring smile.

Kagome sighed. "But they haven't found them." It wasn't a question. That would have been the first thing the _hanyos_ would have mentioned.

"Hey." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into her son's blue eyes, the same shade as her own. "It'll be alright, Ma," he said, smiling wide enough to show his fangs.

She immediately felt both proud and guilty. Proud that Ryoku was being so strong, guilty that he felt he had to be. _She_ was the parent. She should be the one giving reassurances. She reached up and laid a hand gently on top of his head, as she had when he was just a pup. "I know."

Inuyasha watched his wife and son and felt utterly useless. What was the point of having the power to protect his family if he couldn't use it? He clenched his jaw so tightly his teeth groaned. Hikaru and Miroku were talking again, discussing what they should do next. He was about to say that he would go out looking and not come back without the kids, but their voices faded to the back of Inuyasha's mind as a new, annoyingly familiar scent reached his nose. His hand tightened on Tetsusaiga. "Maybe Ryuukisaki didn't take them," he growled, "but I know someone who might have."

Silence fell and everyone looked at him. Ryoku's nose flared as he sniffed and his eyes widened.

Kagome looked up at him and when their eyes met he knew she understood. Perhaps she sensed this new aura. He turned to leave. "I think I need to have a little chat with my brother."

xXx

The soft sounds of nature seemed exceptionally loud in the absence of wolf voices. Even though the weather was exceptionally fine and there were twice as many _yokai_ in the cave as normal, no one was around (which Akira was grateful for). Ayame had told her that morning that they would all be out on a hunt and most likely wouldn't return until closer to dawn. It was just her luck that Izo was the one demon that elected to stay.

"Not bad," he said, grinning, as he crouched over an immobile half-demon. "You're still over thinking it though. You would have won if you hadn't stopped yourself from going at my throat when you had an opening."

While she struggled to catch her breath, Akira thought wryly, _"It's annoying that he knows me well enough to know I was holding back."_ When she could manage decipherable speech she gasped out, "Training…fight. Not trying…to actually hurt…you."

Izo glared at her. By now she had recovered enough to be sarcastic. "Ah, there it is. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't see that sunny face every day," she quipped, pushing herself up off the grassy ground. They were sparring outside this time, and she had to admit she liked not landing on hard rock every few minutes.

Izo didn't return with a jibe, which shocked her enough to make her take a longer look at him. The glare wasn't angry, she realized, so much as thoughtful. Considering. "So you're holding back because you don't want to actually hurt me?" he asked, fixing her with his icy gaze.

"Well, yeah." Not entirely a lie. "I mean, I doubt the alphas would be happy if-"

He thumped her on the back of her head, making her sway. "What the hell?" she yelped, leaping to her feet and glowering at him.

He stood slowly and regarded her calmly. She had an odd feeling that their personalities had been temporarily switched. "You need to get over that. If you won't let yourself fight with all your power, there's no point in training you."

"_All my power… Trust me, you don't want to see that." _She kept her thoughts to herself however and just turned her back haughtily. "Whatever," she muttered, stalking back toward the waterfall.

"Hey!" A rough hand grabbed her shoulder and halted her progress. "We're not done yet," Izo said angrily, and she felt him try to pull her back. She stood her ground.

"Yes, we are," she growled, jerking away from him. She had noticed something that made her more eager than ever to end their match. "It's almost sunset. I'm tired. We're done." She couldn't believe how much time had passed since their little training session began. She cursed herself for not paying more attention.

Izo shifted his grip to her arm and yanked her around. "That's not for you to decide-" he started, his customary smirk playing at the edges of his mouth.

Akira knew he wasn't really trying to make her angry, just tease her a little. But all her pent up energy and fearful anticipation of the night to come rose up inside her, removing rational thought. Growling, she jerked away from him and slashed with her free hand. The boy's eyes widened and he barely moved back in time to avoid her claws sinking into her face.

"Just leave me alone!" she shouted, clenching her fists so hard her claws bit into her palm. The edges of her vision had started to tint red, so she felt as if she was looking down a bloody tunnel. The bracelet on her wrist burned and itched unbearably. She felt her body shaking with suppressed power as her demon blood fought for control. Instantly, she knew what had triggered it; much as she tried to ignore it, her fear was so strong she could feel it grow with every heartbeat. Her body was desperately trying to react, trying to fight before that option was taken away from her. "No," she whispered, forcing her instincts down. She felt the warmth of the sun leave her back as it sunk behind the horizon. "Just leave me alone," she repeated, not looking at Izo. Then she turned and dashed away.

"_They won't be back until dawn," _she thought as she sprinted into the blessedly empty cave. Already the faint glow of twilight was sapping her strength. _"I can last that long. Just one night." _A shudder went through her as she crept to the back of the cave and huddled into the pile of furs that was her bed. She watched, almost detached, as her claws receded. She felt her fangs shrink and her ears move farther down on her skull, rounding. Becoming human.

"_Just one night," _she repeated to herself, burrowing into the heavily wolf-scented fur as deeply as she could. _"Just one night."_

Izo stared at Akira's retreating back, utterly bewildered. He'd seen the _hanyo _get angry before, even been the cause of it, but he'd never seen her act like that. And there had been that overwhelming smell of fear coming from her. Just for a second, as the surprisingly strong _yokai_ scent faded from her, she had smelled purely like a frightened human girl. Something was definitely wrong.

"_I should just leave her alone,_" he thought as she disappeared into the cave. _"Let her cool off_."

But that left him with nothing to do and nowhere to go. He didn't even want to get close to the cave, for fear of igniting that crazy anger-fear in Akira. He supposed he could go after the pack and join the hunt, no matter that it was a bit late. But then that would lead to the other wolf-demons questioning why he had stayed behind in the first place, which was a question he wasn't sure he knew the answer to… Or actually, he _knew_ the answer; he just didn't want to admit that because Akira was not technically a member of the pack and couldn't go, he hadn't wanted her to be by herself for so long.

"_I just didn't want her here with no one watching her_," he justified to himself. _"Gods only know what kind of trouble the stupid girl could get in to. Or cause." _He cast another glance at the cave, then made up his mind. He quickly scented the air, faced the mountains, and took off after the scent of his packmates. Running felt good. He still had the residual effects of the adrenaline rush fighting Akira had given him in his system and needed to burn off the energy. He raced over the stone, deeper into the treacherous, rocky terrain. Before he knew it, the moon had risen in the sky and he was miles from the home cave. He slowed and looked around, getting his bearings. He recognized where he was. It was a common guard post for big hunting expeditions. The familiar smell he'd been following must belong to whoever the alphas had assigned as a rear guard.

"Hey there, didn't expect to see you tonight."

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when the suspected rear guard made himself known. The _yokai_ boy blinked yellow-green eyes as he approached Izo. "You decide you wanted to join the fun after all?" Joudan asked, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"I was thinking about it," Izo admitted, ducking away from his friend. He gave the other boy a half smile and added, "I'm surprised _you_ aren't 'joining the fun'. How'd you get stuck with guard duty?"

Joudan shrugged. "I volunteered. Not really feeling much like a hunt tonight."

If Izo hadn't known the other boy so well, he might have been surprised; it was the most un-wolf-like thing he'd ever heard a wolf-_yokai_ say. But he did know Joudan, and he knew that his friend had a lot of lone wolf instincts. That didn't make him a bad packmate. He was just…different. So all he said was, "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Akira got pissed so I wanted to clear out, but I'm not sure I really want to follow the others."

Joudan snickered. "That little girl ran you off? Come on, Izo, are you really scared of a _hanyo_?"

"Of course not-" Izo started, angry even though he knew it was a joke. Then he remembered the look on Akira's face when she'd told him to leave her alone. He remembered her claws swinging at him so fast he barely had time to react. He remembered the briefly overwhelming scent of a powerful demon that she carried. And he realized that, just for a moment, he _had _been afraid of her.

But he would _never_ admit it.

He huffed moodily. "Whatever."

Joudan must have been able to tell something was up, but he didn't pry. "Yeah, okay," he agreed easily, and changed the subject. "Well, it might be too late to go find the others already anyway. I think they'll be heading back earlier than they expected, even from here it sounded like they caught a scent really quickly. Around moonrise."

"They should be back an hour or so before dawn then," Izo mused. He glanced at the sky. Joudan was right. It was already past midnight, there was no point in going after the others now. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Guess I should just head back then," he muttered.

Joudan's eyes glinted playfully. "You sound like a human dreading going home to his wife," he taunted.

Izo glared at him and aimed a kick at his side. His friend dodged and leapt up the rocks back to his guard post, laughing. "Just shut up," Izo growled. "What do you know, anyway?" he turned and began heading back toward home cave, his friend's laughter echoing behind him. _"He's just playing," _he told himself as he retraced his steps, bounding along. _"Besides, why should it get to me so much?" _It certainly wasn't the first time one of his friends had made a joke at his expense. He needed to stop overreacting. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling of frustration, it hung over him even until he ducked behind the waterfall and entered the cave. Then it was replaced by shock.

There was a human in the cave. He could smell it, very faint under the strong scent of wolf-_yokai_. An instinctive growl rose up from his chest and he sank into a hunter's crouch, stalking forward. The scent was coming from the back of the cave, from where Akira had taken to sleeping. In fact, the human smell seemed to have mixed with Akira's. Or rather, it was as if the human part of Akira's scent had gotten stronger.

When he was within pouncing distance of the pile of furs, they moved. A head of black, mussed hair rose slowly from the pile as the human girl pushed herself into a sitting position.

Izo stared at Akira. She stared at him. Neither moved, barely breathing. Other than her ears and claws having disappeared, Izo realized she really didn't look all that different. Her eyes had become a more subdued, tawny sort of color as opposed to the glowing gold he'd become familiar with, but they still stared at him as defiantly as when he'd first seen them. Now her strange behavior made sense; no _hanyo_ was comfortable revealing their time of weakness. When they became human.

Many different emotions swirled in Izo's stomach, but the only thing he could find to say was, "How long?"

Akira's expression briefly changed to one of shock and relief. He realized she'd thought he might attack her when she was so vulnerable. Though a few weeks ago the idea might have appealed to him, now he only wanted to help her, to…protect her.

He almost groaned aloud. He hadn't realized he'd started to care about her.

"I'll be back to normal at dawn," Akira answered his vague question. She must have seen something in his expression because she added hopelessly, "They'll be back before then, won't they?" It was a rhetorical question; they both knew the answer. She sighed.

Izo understood her fear. There were plenty of wolves who objected to the half-demon's presence, and wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of her weakened state. The thought made him irrationally angry. "If you stay in the furs, we can hide your scent," he said brusquely, feeling almost as though he was betraying his pack. Wolves didn't have secrets, and here he was trying to protect someone else's.

"It doesn't matter," Akira whispered. "They'll smell I'm human. You know they will." She was right. He knew she must have chosen her hiding place in an attempt to mask her scent, but he had smelled her the moment he entered the cave.

He stared at her for a long moment, two impulses warring with each other in his gut. One told him to walk away. It wasn't his problem, it wasn't his secret. The other impulse was less logical. And more insistent.

Akira watched the boy she'd come to…well, if not like, at least not totally despise. No, that was a lie. Despite all her better judgment, she _did_ like him.

"_Too much,"_ she thought, trying to ignore the feeling of relief and delight that had bloomed in her heart when he seemed to be trying to help her. _"I like him too much."_ The expression on Izo's face said that he was having some kind of internal debate; she was stunned that he was even considering helping a _hanyo_. She tried not to let her hopes rise.

Izo suddenly growled in frustration and gritted his teeth. Akira flinched away from him, startled. But when he looked at her all he did was say, "Lie down again, as much in the furs as you can get."

She furrowed her brow. "I just said that won't wo-" she began, but his glare shut her up. She laid down and snuggled into the furs, grateful for their warmth covering her weak human body.

"I know it won't work," he explained tightly. "Not by itself." Without warning the air around them pulsed with power, a strong demonic aura. Akira didn't have time to do more than widen her eyes before the boy in front of her stretched, grew, and changed.

Crouched before her where the Izo she knew had been standing was a huge, russet wolf. He was twice the size of any non-demonic wolf, and his eyes were that familiar icy blue. Despite his mass, she vaguely noticed that his paws still seemed a little too big for him, indicating that he wasn't done growing.

Her first instinct was to prepare for an attack, and she half sat up, muscles tensing. But then she stopped; she _knew_ this was Izo, not matter what form he was in. And she realized what he was doing for her.

"You don't have to do this," she muttered, trapped in his gaze.

He blinked at her, then huffed. "I know." He paced toward her and shoved his muzzle into her shoulder, knocking her flat. "Now lie down and shut up." She did and he stretched out beside her, blocking her from view. His scent and demonic aura were almost overpowering in this form. No one would be able to detect her human presence with him so close.

She rolled over, feeling his warm back against hers. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Thank you."


	7. Lord Sesshomaru

_**Lord Sesshomaru**_

* * *

><p>"Cho, look out!" Toshi yelled, running toward his cousin. The older girl heard his shout and spun around, drawing her long, thin <em>katana<em>. With a swift slice, the large, snaky _yokai _that had been trying to sneak up on her was decapitated. Toshi breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Cho was just as accomplished a fighter as her mother, but still he'd been worried. The young woman looked over her shoulder at him, flicking her hair out of her eyes.

"You alright?" she asked as he stumbled closer, gripping his bow tightly. He nodded. Cho gave him a quick smile, sheathing her sword. She planted her fists on her hips and looked around, sighing. "Well, I think that was the last of them. And it looks like we're close to home, finally."

Here she shot the _hanyo_ boy a dirty look. He grinned sheepishly. Well, what had they all expected, really? For him to stay home when his sister was in trouble? His family may say that he took after his mother in personality, but he had an obstinate streak to rival his father's. Of course he had taken the first opportunity to escape Cho's custody and decided to track Akira's kidnapper. That was almost a week ago; Cho had caught him two days into his little expedition and started dragging him back, but it suddenly seemed like there were demons behind every rock and tree. They couldn't go more than a few hours without being attacked, and they were both tiring.

This was made evident when Cho sighed again and let her legs fold underneath her, sitting against a tree. "I'm fine," she waved Toshi off when he started toward her, concerned. "I just need a minute." She closed her eyes and for a moment they were both silent.

Toshi let his eyes dart around, sniffing warily. The enchanted wood of his bow creaked in his grasp and his ears twitched. He wasn't letting down his guard.

"I hope Kei and the baby are doing alright," Cho said suddenly. Toshi looked at her, surprised. Her eyes were closed, but a worried frown creased her brow. "He and Tadao have so much to do, _and _watch the kids. Not that I think Kaede won't help, but she's certainly not as young as she used to be…" she trailed off.

Toshi felt suddenly very guilty. For some reason, it had never occurred to him that he wasn't Cho's only charge; she had Gina's and her own children to worry about as well. And she had left them (and her husband) to come and find him. To keep him safe. He knelt down next to her.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Her eyebrow twitched to show she was listening. "I know what I did was stupid."

Cho opened her eyes and smiled at him tiredly. "Yeah, it was," she agreed, reaching up and ruffling his hair. He endured it. His expression must have been priceless, because she giggled. "I swear," she said laughingly, "you are the oldest twelve-year-old I've ever met!"

Toshi wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. Before he could decide, Cho's eyes widened and she suddenly grabbed his shoulders, sending them both sprawling as she shouted, "Get down!"

The world blurred, and all he could make out, (even with his half-demon vision) was a flash or yellow-orange. He tried to nock an arrow but his movements seemed sluggish, and he couldn't roll out from under Cho's protective body fast enough. Though his limbs seemed to move in slow motion, his mind whirred like a hummingbird's wings. He realized Cho knew there was no time to avoid the demon and was trying to shield him.

A flash of fangs, dripping venom, filled his vision and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for death.

A shriek filled his ears, though it was not his own or Cho's. His eyes flew open and he felt the young woman's weight lift from his body.

Standing in front of them with his back to them was a tall, silver-haired young man. He wore a white kimono with red blossom patterns, and his chest was clad in protective armor. His hand was outstretched to his side, claws glowing a sickly green, as though having just completed a strike. All around him were the shredded remains of Toshi and Cho's would-be attacker.

"Very well done, Sesshomaru-sama," a much smaller _yokai_ said, scurrying out of the safety of the foliage. "No minor demon can stand against you," he fawned, huge eyes jumping around in their sockets.

Under other circumstances, Toshi would have rolled his eyes at the little imp. As it was, he was frozen with terror. Beside him, he heard Cho mutter what he was thinking: "I'd almost rather have the giant snake."

Sesshomaru, son of the Great Dog General, Lord of the Western Lands, turned and fixed human and _hanyo_ with emotionless, golden eyes. Screwing up his courage, Toshi cleared his throat and summoned up a weak smile. "Hello, Uncle," he squeaked.

xXx

The moment Inuyasha left the hut, his family on his heels, he saw a great cat with black markings and a Demon Slayer and _kitsune_ on her back touch down lightly a few houses away.

"Kohaku!" Sango called to her brother as Kirara bounded toward them. "Inuyasha and Kagome just got here and we explained, then-"

"I know, Ane-ue," Kohaku responded, leaping off the cat-demon's back. "Shippo smelled him the moment we got to the village."

"Kagome!"

The _miko_ held out her arms automatically to the fox-demon, though he was really getting too big to jump up into her embrace. Demons may grow more slowly than _hanyos_ and humans, but they did grow. As this thought crossed her mind, Kagome suddenly reflected on how _young_ her family looked. Miroku, Sango, their children, even Kohaku: all of them had aged since her return to this era, but somehow they still seemed to be in the prime of their lives. Kaede had once discussed this with her, saying it was her belief that because they all spent so much time with Inuyasha, some of his demonic powers (specifically though applied to the aging process) had rubbed off on them; this was verified by the feeling of their auras, all blended together. The results were most evident in Kagome herself, but that was to be expected. She and her husband's auras were practically one.

Of course, she knew her brain was only seizing on these speculative facts and small details in an attempt to find some order in the chaos that had become her life. "Hello, Shippo," she said softly, hugging the little demon. "It's good to see you. Thank you for looking for them."

"Of course." He looked up at her with big green eyes. "I'm sorry we haven't found anything, but when I smelled Sesshomaru-"

"Huh." Inuyasha suddenly let out a sharp breath in a noise of surprise, staring off toward the _Mori no Inuyasha_.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, looking up at his face. Shippo jumped out of her arms and stood beside the _hanyo_. She noticed he almost reached the top of Inuyasha's leg instead of barely standing knee-high on him.

"That's what I was trying to say," Shippo told the half-demon. "He found them."

Kagome flicked her gaze back to the trees and her breath caught. Then she ran toward the group of figures emerging from the forest, crying, "Toshi!"

"Mama!" The boy dashed toward her, throwing his arms around her waist unashamedly and hiding his face against her stomach. "I'm sorry," he said over and over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." To the side, Kagome heard Cho reuniting with her own family, saying something about wanting to check on her husband and the baby.

"Don't ever do something like that again!" she scolded, but she knew her words lacked bite. She kissed the top of his head and looked up, meeting her brother-in-law's golden eyes. The _daiyokai_ had Jaken at his heels, as usual, holding the reins of the two-headed dragon creature that seemed to be perpetually with them. "Thank you, Onii-san," she said respectfully, nodding at him.

Inuyasha appeared at her shoulder. "That still sounds so wrong," he muttered, and she had to smother a smile, in spite of everything. "But she's right." He nodded at his full demon half-brother. "Thanks," he muttered reluctantly.

Inuyasha gripped his youngest son's shoulder and glared at him. "And you," he growled, narrowing his eyes. Toshi gulped. Impulsively, Inuyasha pulled the boy into a tight hug that lasted less than a moment. "Don't scare your mother like that again, hear me?" he said gruffly, pushing Toshi toward Ryoku. Violet eyes gazed back at him, and a tiny smile played across the boy's face.

"Idiot," Ryoku said fondly, ruffling his brother's hair. Inuyasha wished he could enjoy his family's reunion (partial reunion anyway), but his own brother was still standing there silently, watching them all.

"Uncle found us and saved us from a _yokai_," Toshi said, explaining to the gathered crowd.

"It was in my way," Sesshomaru said softly. No one argued.

"Regardless, you have our thanks," Miroku said, as amiable as ever.

"Why was your pup wandering about, anyway?" Jaken asked Inuyasha, half belligerent and half curious. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at him and was about to snap that it was none of his business when Sesshomaru interrupted.

"The boy told me. I…am sorry about your daughter." Jaken looked up at his master in confusion and Inuyasha noticed Cho and Toshi exchange an amused glance.

For a moment he was taken aback. His elder brother actually sounded sincere. (But of course, his face revealed no emotion.) Then he was angry. "You say that like she's already dead, bastard," he growled, clenching his fists. "She's not."

The Lord of the Western Lands said nothing. Tension snapped through the air.

Kagome felt she'd best cut in. "Maybe we should all take a moment to explain things inside," she said, stepping in front of Inuyasha and forcing him to meet her eyes. She glanced back at Sesshomaru and made another attempt to be friendly. "Where's Rin? I'm sure she'd like to see Kaede; it's been a while hasn't it?"

"Her whereabouts are none of your concern," Jaken snapped, glaring. Sesshomaru silenced him with a look.

He regarded them all silently for a moment, and Kagome unconsciously let her powers explore the area. Even before he spoke, she realized why he happened to be in the area, why he was close enough to save her son.

Seemingly with a great deal of effort, Lord Sesshomaru admitted, "Rin is missing."

For a moment no one spoke. Then Shippo cast his eyes to the sky and asked, "Can anyone _else_ disappear?!"

xXx

Izo sniffed the air, turning in a circle to take in as much scent information as possible. "A herd of boar that way," he said briskly, pointing.

Akira looked in the direction he indicated and sniffed. She wrinkled her nose. Yep. Definitely boar. And lots of them.

"We going after them?" Yorokobi asked, pacing with pent up energy. Joudan too seemed excited, flexing his claws in a subconscious kind of way

Izo grinned at them, showing his fangs. "We're on a hunt, right? So let's hunt!"

The boys let out excited cries that sounded eerily similar to yelping wolves and took off, running deeper into the western part of the mountains. Akira and Izo exchanged a wry glance, then the demon boy grinned and grabbed her wrist, bounding forward. "Come on, or they'll leave us behind!"

For a moment Akira faltered, startled. Then she felt her own excitement stirring in her stomach and she grinned wickedly. "Right!" She poured on the speed and soon Izo wasn't dragging her anymore. In fact, he seemed to actually be putting out some effort to keep up with her. Akira laughed wildly and sped up even more. She heard Izo chuckle behind her and then he darted past her, a russet-and-gray blur.

"Beat that!" he taunted as he sped by.

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you're on!" She ran, letting the raw power take over her body like she rarely did, and felt she was moving so fast she was almost flying. Her feet barely skimmed the ground with each stride and the wind tugged at her hair, blowing it straight out behind her like a banner. Still, she didn't even feel out of breath. She didn't feel in danger of following her instincts _too_ much. She felt…free.

As she caught up and overtook the boys, hearing their cries of mock-outrage, she was instantly very glad she had decided to come with Izo when he told her he and his friends were going on a sort of substitute hunt. Since Joudan had been on guard duty the night before, and she had been unable to attend the hunt at all, he had asked if she wanted to go. Very reluctantly and with much surliness, but still he had asked. Akira smiled to herself, remembering how he had looked that morning when he woke her up to make his offer

.._._

"Yo, move it or lose it, girl." He shook her shoulder, breaking her free of dreams in which she was chased by a faceless demon that smelled of fire, unable to fight or flee in her weak human body.

"Huh? Izo?" She blinked and sat up, looking around. Instantly, she knew it was almost an hour past dawn. She breathed an internal sigh of relief when she felt the familiar strength in her now _hanyo_ limbs._ "I can't believe I slept so deeply,"_ she thought as she stretched and looked at Izo, in his humanoid form once again. _"I can't believe I slept at all."_ She hadn't expected it to be so easy to sleep when she was so vulnerable, especially with dozens of wolves so near. Though actually, she suspected it was the presence of one wolf that had allowed her to sleep.

"_Don't go there,"_ she warned herself. "So, what's up?" she asked, looking into ice blue eyes. She frowned and asked warily, "You don't wanna spar right now, do you? I had a bit of a stressful night."

"You and me both," Izo grumbled, rolling his eyes. "But no, I don't. I was wondering if you wanted to come on a hunt with me and the guys."

"Joudan and Yorokobi?" she asked, standing and twitching her hips to make her furry kilt-skirt-thing lie straight. "Didn't they just go on a hunt last night?"

"Joudan was on guard duty," Izo said, standing as well. He refused to look at her when he mumbled. "Just thought he might want to work out some energy since he didn't last night." He eyes flicked to her long enough to see her slightly dumbstruck expression and he scowled, crossing his arms. "Whatever. Do you want to come or not? It's not like I care."

Akira blinked then ducked her head, hiding her smile. _"By whatever gods exist,"_ she thought, "_he wants to make sure his friend doesn't feel left out, and he's inviting me for the same reason. That's so…sweet!"_ It was not aword she'd thought she'd ever apply to the wolf-yokai. "Sure, I'll go," she said casually, hoping her thoughts didn't show on her face. "We leaving now or what?"

Izo finally met her eyes and gave her the smallest smile she'd ever seen. "Yeah, just as soon as I grab Yorokobi. Meet you at the base of the waterfall then."

"Yeah," she agreed. He turned to go and she impulsively reached out, grabbing his arm. "Izo?"

He looked back at her, seeming startled. "What?"

She swallowed, suddenly nervous and unsure. "I just, uh…" She fixed her eyes on his shoulder, doing anything to avoid his gaze. "I wanted to…thank you," she mumbled. Lowering her voice even more she elaborated, a tad unnecessarily perhaps, "For, ya know… Helping me. Last night." She felt her cheeks burn with a completely irrational blush.

"Oh, well… You kinda already did," Izo pointed out. She looked up to meet his eyes and saw that his face was distinctly red too. "But, uh, you're welcome, I guess. Or whatever."

…

Akira rolled her eyes as she raced forward, toward the scent of her prey. It had hardly been the most eloquent acceptation of gratitude (though she really had no room to criticize), but it had still been somehow…sweet.

"_And there's that word again_,_"_ she thought, slowing down as the scent of boar became stronger. She didn't want to spook their prey, and she had to wait for the boys to catch up anyway. Slinking behind a boulder with a stubborn, stumpy tree defiantly growing out of a crack beside it, she crouched down and waited.

Before long, the scent of wolf gusted by her and three teenage demons came bounding down the rocky trail she had just used. They hesitated on the other side of the boulder, and she saw Yorokobi swing his head and sniff the air. Before they could figure out how close her scent was, she leapt out from behind the rock, letting out a mock-battle cry, and pounced on Izo's back, knocking him into Joudan, who fell into Yorokobi. In an instant all four teenagers were in a massive, struggling pile, unable to tell whose limbs were whose.

"What the hell, Akira!?" Joudan barked, but there was amusement in his tone. He rolled away from the other three, pulling Yorokobi with him and subsequently freeing them both.

"Oh, come on," Akira laughed, accepting the hand the gray haired _yokai_ boy held out to her. "That was funny. You should have seen your faces!" Yorokobi laughed with her as behind them Joudan hoisted Izo to his feet. Unfortunately, Akira and Izo's legs were still tangled together, and when their friends tried to help them up they only pulled each other back down. Akira pitched backward and landed heavily on Izo's chest.

Izo's breath was knocked out of him in a rush. He tried to say "Ouch" but it came out as a sort of wheezy, "_Ach._" The weight of Akira across his chest wasn't exactly unbearable, but he certainly hadn't expected it. He managed to get his elbow braced against the ground and pushed himself into an almost-sitting position. The half-demon girl was laughing, and gasping, "Sorry, sorry," even as she slid halfway onto his lap. She reached up, seemingly on reflex, and gripped his shoulder to brace herself. As he fumbled to try to get his feet under him, she tried to move her legs out of the way and somehow they ended up gripping each other's arms, torsos pressed together. For a moment, their faces were an inch apart. Time seemed to slow down. Her jet hair tangled becomingly around her face and her golden eyes danced at him. One of her dog ears was cocked forward in an almost puppyish manner that even he had to admit was frankly adorable.

In that instant, their eyes locked and he saw some of the playfulness leave her gaze, replaced by something else. Something wild that made his own heartbeat very loud in his ears. They were so close together that he could feel _her_ heart beating against his chest. As her gaze changed, he felt her heart stutter –_ba-bump, ba-bump, ba– _then start again, faster than before.

"You sure have a gift for tangling things up, sis," Yorokobi chortled, and the moment passed.

Both Izo and Akira came back to themselves with a start and the _hanyo_ quickly got to her feet, Izo a second behind her. He tried not to notice how suddenly cold her absence made him.

"Sis?" Akira said, raising an eyebrow at the other boy. Her back was rigid and she was frozen in place, her body language screaming for any who messed with her to be wary. Izo and Joudan exchanged glances that said, "_Oh, now he's done it."_

Yorokobi blinked at her, as though only just realizing what he'd said. Then he shuffled his feet in an embarrassed manner and laughed as casually as he could, "Oh, well, that's just what we wolves do, you know? Pack is family, so everyone's your brother or sister, aunt or uncle. I guess I just got used to having you around; it kinda slipped out. Sorry if I offended you." He gave her a charming, lopsided grin. Izo had to applaud his friend's carefully awkward handling of the situation. However, the fact that Yorokobi had referred tothe _hanyo_ so familiarly still shocked him slightly.

What shocked him more was Akira's reaction. By now he felt he knew her well enough to judge how she would respond; with brushing off the apology (and the incident as a whole) as inconsequential and perhaps following up with a snippy comment. But she didn't. Instead, she replied absently, "No need to apologize, I'm not offended," as she turned away from them and started off again toward the scent of boar. Her voice was soft, unconsciously gentle, when she added, "It didn't offend me. It's just be a while since I was called that, that's all."

The boy's exchanged a three-way glance (an impressive technique honed by years of training) and started after her.

"So, you have siblings?" Joudan asked casually, coming up beside her with Izo on his left. Yorokobi came up on Akira's right, eyes wide and curious.

Akira flashed him a wary glance, then seemed to control her secretive impulse. "Two," she said tonelessly, looking ahead again. They all walked in silence for a while, Izo and his friends watching Akira expectantly. She finally looked over at him and held his gaze for a fraction of a second before dropping her eyes to her feet. "Brothers," she said quietly. "One older and one younger."

All three boys abandoned their attempt to hide their curiosity. "How old are they?" Yorokobi asked with his customary energy.

Akira looked at him, expression unfathomable. For a moment, Izo thought he saw something like pain in her eyes. Then she grinned and it was gone. "Ryoku is eighteen," she said. "Toshi is twelve."

"What are they like?" Joudan asked, pressing in for his turn. Though Izo kept his mouth closed, he was listening to the girl's answer as carefully as his companions.

A wistful sort of smile slid across Akira's face. "Ryoku is a lot like my dad," she answered, though since none of the boys knew her father this really didn't help much. Realizing this, she looked at them and added, "A lot like me, too."

"Stubborn?" Izo offered innocently.

Akira leaned around Joudan and punched his arm. "Yes," she admitted. Then confessed easily, "But he's a much better fighter than I am."

"Not hard to do that." Izo knew he was pushing his luck, but he couldn't help it.

Akira glared at him and flashed her fangs in a gesture so wolf-like it scared him. "Watch yourself," she warned, but he could hear the playful undercurrent in her tone. Ignoring him, she continued, "Oh, and Toshi is more like my mom, but I really think that's because he has the same kind of power."

"Isn't your mother a _miko_?" Joudan asked, brow furrowed.

Akira nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Toshi is probably the only _hanyo_ that can use the same kind of spiritual power as a _kannushi_," she said, pride evident in her voice.

Joudan, Yorokobi, and Izo exchanged another three-way glance, eyebrows raised. A half-demon with the power of a priest. "Unusual" would have been an understatement. Before they could ask any more questions however, the scent of their prey was blown to them on a back draft, switching all their minds into hunter mode. Izo saw it in his friends' eyes, a flash of predator instinct as their nostrils flared to catch the scent. With a jolt he realized it was most evident in Akira; for perhaps the first time he began to understand the true nature of the term half-demon. Barely six hours earlier the girl before him had been totally human. Now she was a huntress in every sense of the word.

Pushing these thoughts aside, he jerked his head at his friends and gave them a meaningful look that they understood instantly. They separated, Izo and Joudan moving to one side and Akira and Yorokobi to the other. Crouching lower to the ground, the boys crept along the sides of the trail, using the rocks and trees as cover as they approached the herd.

It took Akira a moment to realize what Izo's silent message meant, and she marveled at how quickly the others understood it. Wolves continued to astound her, and (though she hated to admit it) impress her. Following Yorokobi closely, she was about to ask what the plan was when another scent caught her attention. It was faint, faint enough that she suspected the others didn't notice, and wouldn't for another minute or two. She halted.

"Akira?" Yorokobi looked back at her, eyes questioning.

She forced a smile and waved him on. "Go on," she urged quietly. When he hesitated, she added, "I'll be right there. Tell the others I wanted to…check something."

For a moment longer he stared at her, and she could see in his face the internal debate: to trust her or not. Finally, he nodded, once, and turned away to catch up with the others. Akira swung around, sniffing the air. Yes, there it was. A human, a young woman she guessed, somewhere in the tangle of shrubs and trees to her left.

_What is a human doing here? _she wondered as she peered around a trunk. _And how did she _get_ here without being noticed? _A soft crackling noise in the underbrush drew her forward. The scent of the human was masked with mud and tree sap; whoever it was obviously knew where she was and at least a little bit about canine _yokai_. A sudden irritation spread through Akira's chest, heating her bones. She began to understand why Izo had been so hostile when she crossed into the mountains. This was _her_ territory, _her_ pack. And this intruder had better be wary.

Springing forward, she ripped through the foliage to reveal a human crouched in a gap in the underbrush. Her black hair was mussed and tangled, her eyes big, brown, and scared. Akira's snarl died before it truly formed as she recognized a face that she had grown up with. A face that had, until five years ago, been as much a fixture in her life as Kaede or Sango. Until a _daiyokai _had come to the village and she had disappeared with him.

"Rin?" She stared at the young woman huddled before her, utterly shocked. Rin gazed back at her with the same expression on her face, jaw dropped in astonishment.

"Akira?" she said wonderingly. Then they both spoke at once.

"What are you _doing_ here?"

xXx

"So you're saying she just disappeared?" Inuyasha asked his older brother, incredulous. The demon glared at him from across Kaede's hut, but remained silent. It had taken several hours to quiet things down after Sesshomaru's announcement, during which time everyone but Kagome, Inuyasha, Cho, and Shippo had left to renew their search for Akira. Even Toshi had gone, with assurances from Miroku and Sango that they would watch out for him. Kohaku, Ryoku and Hikaru had left first, followed soon after by Gina with Kirara. Inuyasha had wanted to leave as well, and he scowled as he remembered Kagome's argument.

…

"Of course I want to go, too," the _miko_ whispered, drawing her husband away from the crowd of people that had gathered outside Kaede's home. "It's driving me crazy that there's been no sign of her. But your brother is here now, he obviously is worried (though he won't admit it), and he just saved our son. We owe him some explanations and to listen."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, prepared to tell his wife exactly what he thought he owed Sesshomaru and how he planned to give it to him, but she clapped her hand over his mouth before he could.

"_And_," she added, holding his gaze, "If he's going to be looking for Rin anyway…"

The _hanyo_'s eyes widened as he understood. Maybe, if they handled this right, they could recruit some more help.

He growled with frustration, but nodded. "Alright," he consented. "We can talk."

…

Now Sesshomaru replied to his younger brother with a glare and a snapped, "Yes."

"Wait." Kagome held up her hands before a real argument could break out. Looking to her brother-in-law, she said, "You told us Rin was gone one morning, but there was no scent or anything of another demon, and you didn't hear or sense anything during the night. You couldn't pick up her trail later either, right?"

The _daiyokai_ switched his haughty glare to her and she had to exercise great will power to keep from shrinking away. No matter how many years past or how much their standing with him changed, she thought she would always be just a little afraid of the Lord of the Western Lands. She thought he wasn't going to respond to her at all, but after a moment he nodded once, stiffly.

"Alright then," she continued warily. Knowing what she said next could save or damn the conversation, she asked cautiously, "Is it possible that, maybe, she…left willingly?" One pair of golden eyes narrowed at her and another widened at her in a combination of shock and worry. Hurriedly she added, "I don't mean ran away, but what if she…wondered off?..." Her voice trailed off when Sesshomaru's glare didn't let up, but he remained silent.

"Fool," Jaken muttered from his place in the corner.

"You want to say that louder, runt?" Inuyasha demanded, glaring at his brother's henchman.

The small demon glared at the _hanyo_ and said, "Don't we think we've thought of that? Why do you think we came to your pathetic little village? It seemed the only logical place Rin would go if she was not with Sesshomaru-sama! We-"

"Jaken." His voice was not loud, but somehow demanded absolute obedience. The reptilian yokai fell silent. Kagome and Inuyasha quickly looked back to Sesshomaru as he rose, seeming much too big for the hut. "Obviously she is not here," he said coolly, "so we will take our leave."

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama," Jaken said quickly, leaping up and racing to his master's heels.

"Hey-" Inuyasha began angrily as they moved to leave the hut.

"Wait," said an old, cracked voice at the same moment.

Four pairs of eyes turned to the old woman who had just entered the little room, bent and hobbling. She had a fistful of herbs in one hand and her eyes peered intelligently out of her wrinkled face at the scene before her.

"Kaede!" Kagome exclaimed, leaping to her feet. She hurried to the old woman's side, scolding gently. "I told you I would go out and look for herbs, you shouldn't push yourself."

"Hmph," Kaede muttered, but she accepted the younger _miko_'s arm to lean on. "The day I'm too old to walk to my own garden is the day I throw myself into the dry well," she muttered as Kagome helped her sit.

Inuyasha saw his wife quickly hide her smile and couldn't help his own flash of amusement. "I don't think you'll ever die, old woman," he muttered truthfully, half in scorn and half in amazement.

She shot him a look and he tried to look innocent. He had a feeling his facial muscles couldn't quite pull it off. "I can't very well leave Kagome on her own to deal with all your nonsense," she said firmly. The younger _miko _giggled and the half-demon glared at her. Before Inuyasha could muster a retort for either of them, Kaede looked to Sesshomaru and said, "I am sorry Rin is not here, but perhaps there is something here that can help you."

The demon stared at her but said nothing. Inuyasha couldn't tell if his silence was born of contempt, worry, or mere disinterest. Obviously taking it as a sign to continue the old woman said, "In situations like these, information can be a most valuable tool. Has no one else noticed the connection in these disappearances?"

Inuyasha blinked at her, wondering what she was getting at or if she had simply (finally) gone senile. Judging from Jaken's expression, he was thinking something similar. Sesshomaru was as impassive as always, but Kagome sucked in a startled breath.

"No scent," she said, blue eyes wide. Inuyasha snapped his gaze to hers and realized.

"No trace at all," he said softly, working it out. "Just like Akira."

There was a long moment of silence in which Kaede nodded smugly as the other occupants of the hut realized the implications of this discovery. Finally, Sesshomaru once again lowered himself to sit on the ground and said softly, "I think perhaps I should hear again how your pup disappeared."

xXx

Rin and Akira sat next to each other, each looking off into space, lost in her own thoughts. "So you're…lost?" Akira said eventually, looking at the woman who had been at times friend, aunt, and older sister.

Rin nodded, not meeting her gaze. It struck Akira as decidedly suspicious that her uncle, with his dog-demon nose, had not been able to track Rin down, but she didn't push the matter. She could tell that Rin was uncomfortable talking about it, and she wasn't exactly secret-free herself. When she wanted to talk, she would.

That hadn't stopped Akira from spilling everything that had happened to her since meeting the fire-woman. It had felt good to tell someone, even if she knew that someone wouldn't really be able to help. _"I'm just glad we're not related by blood," _she thought. The idea of what would have happened if they were made her shudder.

Rin glanced at her and forced a smile. "And I thought _I_ had problems," she said softy, putting her arms around the other girl. Akira's eyes itched and she blinked furiously. It felt _so good_ to have someone she knew, trusted, and loved with her. "It'll be okay," Rin whispered, leaning her head against the _hanyo's_. "Maybe I can go to the village, explain things to your family," she offered. She tried to sound casual but Akira knew the idea scared her. She could smell it.

She shook her head. "No, I don't think you should travel alone," she said, pulling herself together. When Rin opened her mouth to protest she cut her off. "I mean it. Why don't you come back to the pack with me? Just for a while. I'm sure Ayame will be fine with you, and I'm starting to figure out she's the one who really runs things."

A brief scent of fear emanated from the other young woman and Akira saw the color leave her cheeks. "Rin?" She took the girl's hands in her own and knelt in front of her, worried. "Are you okay?"

Rin smiled shakily and Akira was relieved to see her skin begin to return to its normal, healthy shade. "I'm fine," she assured her. "It's just-"

Before she could finish, new smells reached Akira's nose and she leapt to her feet, spinning around to see Izo, Joudan and Yorokobi appear through the underbrush.

"Hey, there you are!" Yorokobi said, grinning. He and Joudan each had a boar slung over their shoulders; Akira could smell the blood of a fresh kill, even if she couldn't see it.

Izo noticed her guest first. Immediately he tensed up, wary. His eyes flicked from Akira to the girl crouched on the ground behind her. Her brown eyes were wide and scared. He raised an eyebrow at the _hanyo_. "Who's your friend?" he asked as his friends peered curiously around him. He was surprised he hadn't noticed the human's scent earlier; he supposed Akira's half-human scent had masked it.

"Oh, this Rin, my-" She turned, unsure what to call the young woman and looking for some guidance. The look on Rin's face stopped her. The scent of fear was strong and her eyes were wide, breath coming in panicked pants. "Rin?" She dropped to the human's side, tense with worry.

"You'd think she'd never seen a wolf before," Joudan said lightly behind her. Akira threw a glare at him over her shoulder and saw that a few of the four-legged members of the pack had joined them. They must have sensed the hunt and been curious. She looked from wolves to human and realized that Joudan was right, in a way. It really was the wolves that were scaring her.

"Rin." She touched her friend's face lightly, forcing her to meet her eyes. "They won't hurt you," she said, slowly and calmly.

The raw fear left Rin's expression to be replaced by sardonic amusement. Lowering her voice the human woman whispered, "I know, I'm sorry. It's just…" she cast a glance at the wolves and smiled wryly. "I was killed by wolves once. It's hard to forget the experience."


	8. Family Ties

**Family Ties**

* * *

><p>Akira was seeing red. Rage boiled in her blood, making her feel hot and giving her strength she didn't know what to do with. She bounded up the trail beside the waterfall, easily navigating the slippery rocks. She reached the entrance to the home cave and burst inside, not even noticing when she scattered a group of wolves and demons by the entrance. Eyes burning, she looked around and bellowed, "KOUGA!"<p>

The wolf-_yokai_ around her shifted nervously but she didn't care. Planting her feet she called again, "Kouga! Come out and face me!"

Now a decided muttering broke out among the demons. _No one_ addressed the alpha that way; it was asking for a beating. A wet nose pressed against the back of her hand and she looked down into the amber eyes of one of the four-legged she-wolves. She whined placating and pawed at Akira's leg, obviously disturbed by the girl's sudden behavior.

Akira was unable to care. Moving away from the creature, she shouted, "Come out, coward! I said-"

"I heard you." Kouga emerged from a group of _yokai _that were clustered in one of the many indents in the cave wall. It looked like a patrol had just returned. He folded his arms and regarded her with a strange combination of haughtiness and calm. "What's got your tail in a twist?"

Akira growled and sank into the fighter's crouch she had learned from Izo. "Fight me," she spat.

Izo dashed into the cave barely a minute after Akira disappeared behind the waterfall. He had ordered Yorokobi and Joudan to stay with the human woman, Rin, and help her back to home cave at her own pace. Even at the best of times, it was doubtful that a human could keep up with the wolf demons' speed, and that particular human had looked rather malnourished. He had gone on ahead, worried about what Akira might do; after hearing Rin's story of how the pack had attacked her village when she was a little girl, some sort of change seemed to have come over the _hanyo_. The smell of anger coming off her was so strong he almost choked, and there had been a flash of something distinctly terrifying in her eyes.

He froze in the mouth of the cave, the rushing sound of the waterfall deafening in his ears. In the center of the stone cavern, surrounded by nervously shifting or angrily snarling wolves and _yokai_, Akira faced his father. Kouga looked angry and just a little startled. Both of them had their fangs bared.

"_Oh shit."_

"Are you challenging me?" the alpha growled dangerously.

Izo felt his blood run cold. No. Even Akira wasn't that stupid. She knew very well that challenging the alpha went against all laws of the pack, disturbed the order. And if that was true it was the alpha's right and duty to restore order. By whatever means he deemed necessary.

Akira lifted her head, chin jutting stubbornly. "Yes." A collective rumble went through the crowd. Izo felt a body tense beside him and realized his mother had come to stand next to him without him even realizing it.

"We have to do something," he muttered to her.

But Ayame, who had always liked Akira and defended the decision to let her stay many times over, who had entrusted her to Izo to teach her how to keep herself alive, shook her head. "We can't," she said miserably. "She knows our laws. And she's chosen to challenge them."

Something in Izo's face must have shown what he was thinking, because she caught his arm in an iron grip. "You can't do anything," she hissed. Her eyes shifted to her mate and the half-demon and she whispered, "I don't understand… She just came in and started shouting for him to face her, something about hurting her family…"

The combatants circled each other and Izo explained in as few words as he could what had seemed to set Akira off. Thinking about it made his stomach roll unpleasantly. In all his life, he had never seen wolves, demonic or otherwise, attack humans without prompting. It just wasn't in their natures. Which led to the conclusion that Rin's horrible story was absolutely true; the wolves had been set on her village by his father.

Ayame must have known what e was thinking, because she took her eyes off Kouga and Akira for an instant to say, "Izo, you have to understand; it was different back then, before your father met humans and-"

A savage yell rang from dozens of throats as Akira finally charged. She lashed out with her claws as she spun by the older and stronger _yokai_. Using her size and speed to her advantage, she ducked the alpha's strike and leapt away from a kick. Eyes glinting darkly, she ducked under Kouga's guard and landed a blow on his shoulder, claws sinking into flesh to create three red, parallel lines. The _yokai _snarled and struck again, but Akira dodged easily, grinning in a slightly mad way.

Izo groaned softly. Why, oh _why_ did she have to start taking his advice _now_? She had finally let her instincts take over, but was clever enough not to attack head on. But he knew it wasn't enough. His father was just as fast, and had many years more experience than the girl.

Too soon, his thoughts were proven correct. The demon let Akira strike again, then used her own momentum against her, grabbing her elbow and spinning her around. Disoriented, she staggered, and Kouga struck.

Izo smelled new arrivals behind him and heard the human girl hiss in a breath as the wolf leader's claws raked across Akira's cheek, marking her as she had marked his shoulder.

"Akira!" Rin cried, starting forward, but Ayame and Joudan held her back.

"You can't interfere-" Yorokobi was explaining rapidly as Ayame began spitting out all that they had missed to the boys and young woman. In doing so, she released her son.

Akira's cheek burned from Kouga's claws and she growled as she was knocked off balance yet again, stumbling a few steps before regaining her equilibrium. Those few precious seconds were enough to give the alpha another opening and he lunged again, knocking her flat on her back. Stars burst in front of her eyes, joining the reddish haze that veiled her vision. Her senses seemed both heightened and dulled, disorienting her further._ "No_," she thought fiercely, pushing herself to her hands and knees. _"I don't care if I lose, but I _won't_ give up!" _

But before she even managed to get to her feet, Kouga struck again, and again, and again. In a matter of moments, it must have been clear to any watching that the fight was over. Akira lay on her side, blinking dizzily, bleeding from the cuts on her face, arms, and side. Kouga towered over her, and from her low vantage point she marveled in a detached sort of way how much he looked like his son.

Wordlessly, Kouga raised a hand to deliver a final blow. She forced herself up onto her elbows and met his gaze, knowing that it was his right to kill her. But she wanted him to know what she thought of his pack's human hunting, she wanted him to be hurt the way Rin was hurt. So she met his eyes with defiance in her own. For a moment, some unintelligible emotion flickered in his blue gaze, that may have been pity, sorrow, regret, or all three. So fast the movement was a blur, his hand came down.

But it never met its target.

Akira blinked as the blur of movement settled into the form of Izo. He was standing in front of her, gripping his father's wrist. From where she lay, she could only see the alpha's face, which held an expression of mingled surprise and growing irritation. So low that she doubted anyone in the silent crowd of demons but she and Kouga could hear, Izo murmured, "Enough."

The alpha's eyes flashed. "Do you challenge me as well?" he growled, low and dangerous.

Izo's shoulders tensed and he seemed to instinctively shrink backward. Then he paused, seemed to gather himself, and held his ground. "No," he continued in the same quiet voice, "but that is enough. Your challenger is beaten, order is restored. What more do you want?" Akira couldn't see his face, but she knew he was testing his own power as the future alpha. She could hear it in his voice.

Kouga mouth twisted in a snarl and he jerked his hand from his son's grip. For a moment Akira was sure he was going to beat them both, but he just spat, "Get her out of my sight. Before I change my mind."

Izo ducked his head respectfully and turned to the half-demon still sprawled on the rock behind him. The scent of blood was strong on her, both her own and his father's. She seemed slightly dazed and he took advantage of that to loop and arm around her waist, tugging her to her feet and towing her through the silent crowd. She struggled feebly and muttered, "I can walk," but he just tightened his hold and she fell silent.

Ayame, Rin, and the boys still stood by the cave mouth, all wearing similar expressions of stunned disbelief. Ayame recovered quickest, starting toward her son with a hand half raised as though to comfort. Something in his face must have deterred her because she backed away when their gazes met, murmuring, "I'll take care of it." He wasn't sure if she meant the human woman or his father's temper. Either way, he was in too much a state of shock to care. He simply nodded, finally giving in to Akira's protests and dropping his hold from her waist to her arm. Then the unlikely allies lurched through the waterfall, out into the sun.

xXx

Three figures stood at the edge of a forest, four if one counted the tiny shadow clinging to the heels of the tallest member of the party.

"Your offer is appreciated," Sesshomaru said as though it pained him to voice the words aloud. "However, I will fare best on my own in this search."

"But, Shesshomaru-sama, have you forgotten me?" the little shadow, Jaken of course, exclaimed. "After all my years of loyal service-"

"Silence." And silence there was. Instantly.

But not for long.

"Fine then," Inuyasha snapped, turning away haughtily. "It's not like it's any skin off my nose." Her shoulders were set with anger, and maybe disappointment.

Of course, Kagome was fairly certain she was the only one who saw it, and that may have been because she could read it clearly in his aura. Still, the _miko _softly touched the half-demon's arm in a silent attempt to soothe and attempted to be friendly to his brother. "As you wish," she said politely, nodding. "I am sorry you don't want to look for them together, but I wish you luck in finding Rin."

Inuyasha _Keh_-ed and started off back toward the village; she bit back a sigh. She was just about to turn to leave when her husband surprised her by looking over his shoulder and fixing his half-brother with a very serious gaze. "I hope you find her," he muttered, then continued his stomping away.

Kagome watched him go, torn between exasperation and fondness. She heard a soft shifting of weight behind her and a murmured, "If I find any sign of your pup, I will bring you the news." By the time she turned around to thank him, the Lord of the Western Lands was already a speck near the horizon.

…

By the time Kagome returned to Kaede's hut, Inuyasha had already packed a bag with all the provisions it could hold. "Come on," he said gruffly, handing it to her as he brushed past her in the doorway. "We've already lost a day. We need to get moving."

"Now wait a moment," an old, cracked voice called behind him. He turned to glare at Kaede but she continued calmly, "Perhaps you should spare a few more hours to rest. The others are still searching after all, and you two have hardly slept-"

"No."

Slightly surprised that his wife had beaten him to the punch, Inuyasha shot her a glance. Her jaw was set and her eyes glinted in a way that promised trouble for the first demon to cross their path. "Inuyasha is right," Kagome said, slinging the bag over her shoulder and moving to his side. "I want to spend every moment I am physically capable of looking for Akira doing so. and maybe even some moments that I'm not." The _hanyo_ felt a warm tingle that was a combination of pride and love down to the tips of his fingers and her wanted to lean over and kiss her, but all her did was brush the back of her hand with his fingertips in a movement so small Kaede missed it.

Kaede looked a little worried, but she nodded easily enough. "Very well. Just be careful, both of you." Her gaze met Kagome's for a moment and a small smile curved the corners of her mouth. "And woe betide your enemies. There are not many things more fearsome than a mother protecting her child."

The younger priestess's expression tightened. "No," she growled (for a brief, fanciful moment Inuyasha swore she sounded like she had some dog-demon blood of her own), "There isn't." She looked up at him, smiling fiercely. "Let's go!"

He nodded, starting to swing her up onto his back, but stopped as a new scent invaded his nose. A familiar scent. At the same moment Kagome gave a start and turned toward the river. "I don't believe it," she whispered as a tiny figure similar to the reptilian _yokai_ they had just bid farewell came tottering toward them.

"I'll be damned," Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "The little runt came back."

"Spark!" Kagome cried, running forward. She dropped to her knees beside the little demon and noticed that his robes and the scales on his tail were scorched. "Are you alright? What happened?" She asked. She didn't know when, but she had grown rather fond of the little guy.

Spark nodded, giving her his best approximation of a smile. "Yes, yes. Spark fine. Tell mistress bad information. Mistress happy, and nice lady and half-demon still safe. Friends okay?"

Kagome smiled back. "Yes, our friends are fine, thank you. So you gave Ryuukisaki false information about us? Smart. Thank you."

Spark practically glowed with pleasure and said to Inuyasha as he approached, "Hello, scary half-demon! Spark back."

Inuyasha's lip twitched as he resisted an exasperated smile. "Yeah, I can see that. Glad you're not charcoal." Truthfully, he still wasn't convinced they could trust the little _yokai_, but he'd heard what he had sad to Kagome and was ready to give him a little faith. But only a little. "So, you tagging along with us again? Or are you going to scuttle off?"

Spark's huge, round eyes suddenly became very serious. "Spark do better than tag along," he said, lowering his voice and gesturing for Inuyasha and Kagome to lean closer. Once they had, he whispered, "Spark take you to mistress's secret place. Spark learn big secret about curse."

xXx

Akira tilted her face back, eyes closed, letting the sun kiss her cheeks. A shifting warmth to her right reminded her of Izo's presence and she looked lazily over at him. It had been at least fifteen minutes since she'd returned fully to her senses and found herself sitting next to the wolf-demon near the base of the waterfall. She had quickly gone over the events leading up to and including her fight with Kouga and winced internally, both at the bloodthirsty creature she'd become and the shame of the beating she'd received. Then she remembered Izo's interference. She wanted to ask him about it, but he had said nothing since they'd left the cave, and she was suddenly too shy to break the silence.

"How's your head?"

"What?" She blinked, startled. Of all the things for him to say, she had expected that to be very low on his list.

Izo rolled his eyes and looked sideways at her. "Your head. You hit it pretty hard back there. I can smell the blood."

"Oh." She unconsciously reached up and felt the tender place at the back of her skull, forcing back a wince. Her fingers came away wet and sticky. "It'll be fine," she said cavalierly, "I've had worse."

"Mmm." His eyes hadn't left her face, and she wondered what he could be thinking about to give him such an expression. Then his hand suddenly came up between them, brushing over the already healing cuts on her cheek with an unexpectedly feather-light touch. She was too surprised to even flinch away. "That's going to scar," he murmured.

She shrugged, ignoring the suddenly increased rhythm of her heartbeat. "Demonic wounds usually do." She grinned wryly. "I should know."

Izo gave a humorless laugh and looked away, out toward the horizon. Watching his profile, she briefly wondered about _his _scars. Then she shoved the idea from her mind, turning her gaze to the sky once again. Neither mentioned the fight, or her anger, or his interference. They just sat in companionable silence, looking out over the valley. Akira's mind whirred through questions she wanted to ask that had never occurred to her before. _"And why shouldn't I ask them?" _she thought with sudden abandon. _"I'll most likely be kicked out before dinner time anyway. where's the harm?"_

Sneaking a glance at the wolf-boy from the corner of her eye, a thought struck Akira, not for the first time. Impulsively, she voiced it. "How old are you?"

He looked at her, startled. "Sixteen," he answered in a tone that suggested she had hit her head harder than she let on.

She frowned at him, but not angrily. "That's what I thought," she said slowly. "But why do you _look_ sixteen? I mean, demons age differently than humans and half-demons."

He looked ahead, a tiny half smile curving the side of his mouth that she could see. "Well, it's not exactly common knowledge, but wolf-demons grow almost as fast as some pretty low level _yokai_ for about the first two or three decades. About as fast as humans, or _hanyo_." He nodded at her. "Not really information we want spreading around; could give people the wrong idea, you know?"

"Oh, yes," Akira replied bitterly. "I know very well how ranking works in the demon world." _"And I'm at the bottom. Below even humans, because I'm too 'filthy' to make a meal."_

Izo gave her a quick look that said he knew what she was thinking, but didn't pursue the topic. Instead he continued, "Well, I guess it's kinda a survival mechanism. I mean think about it; in these mountains, it's grow fast, learn fast, or die fast."

"It certainly is."

Both teens jumped, startled, and looked behind them. Kouga was on the rocks above them. He must have just left the cave, or his scent would have drifted down to them sooner. Akira felt her face heat at the superior look he gave her, but whether it was from anger or embarrassment she couldn't tell.

Izo stiffened and he felt the tension in Akira's body mimic his own. "Hello, Father," he said, meeting the alpha's eyes.

Kouga nodded at him, then said in a dangerously low voice. "Izo, can I have a minute to talk to your friend?"

Izo was so thrown he didn't even object to Akira being called his friend (though even he was starting to question if it wasn't an accurate description). He looked from his father to the _hanyo _beside him, unsure what to do. He didn't _really_ think Kouga would hurt Akira, but it was the alpha's duty to keep order in the pack. If he thought Akira was threatening that order…

"It's okay."

Akira's soft voice snapped his eyes to her. She gave him a small smile and touched his arm. "Really. Go on, or you'll get in trouble." Her eyes glinted warmly up at him, calm and sure.

Izo sighed, resigned, and climbed to his feet. "As you like," he said casually, pushing down the worry in the pit of his stomach. On impulse, he reached down and playfully ruffed Akira's hair. She scowled at him and he grinned, then leapt up to join his father. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, mirrors of each other.

"I won't hurt her," Kouga said, so softly Izo doubted Akira could hear even with her half-demon ears.

Izo looked ahead, toward the cave and the pack and everything he knew in life. "Good," he replied just as softly. Because even though he knew it was his father's obligation to continually prove his dominance, he also knew that, somehow, completely against his will or knowledge, Akira _had_ become his friend. And even though she had been questioning the laws of the pack, the very foundations of his world, a small part of him couldn't help wondering if she had been right.

Kouga lowered himself into the place moments ago Izo had been occupying and raked Akira with his ice blue eyes. She found it hard to meet his gaze so she didn't try, just kept staring out over the valley.

"Should I leave then?" she asked eventually, unable to take the suspense.

There was honest incredulity in his voice when he responded, "And why would you do that?"

She looked at him, confused. "I broke pack law," she stammered. "And you didn't kill me. So doesn't that mean I'm banished?"

Kouga nodded thoughtfully. "Normally it would," he said causally, "But, as my mate has reminded me, you are not technically part of the pack. Despite your prolonged stay, you are still a guest. At least, for now."

The last words were so soft Akira almost didn't hear them, and their implication both scared and excited her. So she pretended she _hadn_'_t_ heard and said, "Well, maybe I don't want to stay. Maybe Rin and I will just leave." She ignored the lurching feeling in her stomach as she voiced the niggling thought.

"You could, but you know it would be foolish," Kouga said_. _"And I know you have enough of your mother in you that you are not a fool."

Akira felt her face heat with welcome anger. "No more is my father. Just because you don't get along doesn't mean you have to insult him to my face."

For a second the alpha looked taken aback. Then he gave her a wry smile. "My apologies. That was a little uncalled for." There was a beat of perfect silence before he said, "The girl is being cared for. Ayame has seen to it."

Akira made a noncommittal grunt, looking away from him again.

There was a sigh beside her and a shifting of weight. _"Just like Izo,"_ she couldn't help thinking, amused despite herself. "I know it doesn't make up for what was done," Kouga said softly, "but you should know that no wolf under my command had so much as sniffed a human since I met your mother."

The knot of anger in Akira's belly tightened, then released. She knew that was all she could expect, and more than any reasonable person _would_ expect. Kouga was a full-blooded demon; he didn't see humans the way Akira's family did. And it was not in a wolf's nature to look to the past or the future, only to live in the present. Despite her natural urge to rebel against the pack's system, Akira (for once) let her head rule her heart. "Just promise me Rin won't be harmed," she said softly. "I feel terrible bringing her to a place that brings back such memories."

"I swear as the alpha of this pack, none hear will hurt your friend," Kouga replied easily. Then he added, "And she seems to be adjusting well for someone so afraid of wolves."

Akira laughed briefly. She could well imagine. Adapting to weird or uncomfortable circumstances was second nature to Rin. They lapsed into silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry about your face," he said, casting a cursory glance at her.

Her mouth quirked up at the corner. "I'm sorry about your shoulder."

He grimaced. "Yes. I'll admit I wasn't expecting that." He gave her an appreciative nod. "Your skills are coming along quite nicely.

She shrugged. "I have a good teacher." When his eyebrows went up she glared at him and snapped, "I swear, if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it to my dying breath."

To her surprise he laughed. "Your secret is safe with me," he promised, still chuckling. Icy eyes raked over her once more, but this time she met him stare for stare. "You truly are your father's daughter," he said ruefully, but he was smiling slightly. He stood and sprang back up the natural stairwell and into the cave.

Akira stared after him, not sure if his comment was meant to be good or bad. _"I'll take it as a compliment,"_ she decided and a smile crept across her face. Leaping to her feet, she bounded after him.


End file.
